Love Unexpected
by xoloveJBox
Summary: Puck didn't think he could fall in love...but then she came along...  Sucky summary, I know and I'm sorry! It just occured to me that Puck is the only Glee guy without a little romance, so I thought I'd write one! Please read though!  PuckxOC
1. Prologue

_**A/N Hey Guys!**_

_**Ok, so this is my first glee fanfic, but I'm not really sure whether or not to continue with it! If I get enough people interested I definitely will, so let me know what you think! **_

_**Until I know whether people like this or not, there's not really anything else I can say yet other than I promise it will get better than this chapter lol :D**_

_**So, yeah, please let me know what you think!**_

_**Much love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Prologue.<strong>_

"Repeat after me..."

It seemed to Will as is this just about summed up his life at the moment. Yes, he had Emma and the glee kids, but it all seemed to be the same, day after day. Every day, he'd drive to work with Emma, teach five or six classes, probably have an argument or two with Sue in-between, and then go to glee rehearsal. He was waiting for something different or unexpected to come along and mix things around a little. He didn't want anything too dramatic; he was happier now than he could remember for a long time, but he wanted something to sneak up and making things interesting.

A small knock on the door momentarily distracted him from his thoughts. He looked around and saw a girl standing there, looking timid in blue jeans, a red chequered shirt and glasses with dark frames.

"Can I help you?" Will asked, taking a step towards her. The girl nervously shifted the folders in her arms and pushed her glasses slightly up her nose to frame her china blue eyes, twiddling a thick ringlet of rich dark hair as she consulted a piece of paper in her hand quickly.

"I'm looking for Spanish." She told him quietly, and Will found himself surprised by her accent. It took him a minute to recognise it as British, maybe Australian.

"You found it," Will replied with a warm, encouraging smile. The girl pretty much screamed 'New Student' "Come in."

Will showed her to an empty desk and directed the rest of the sophomore class with work to complete before pulling up a chair next to the new student.

"Ok," he said, pulling forward his register "What's your name?"

"Nikki Winters." She told him in a small voice. Yep, British Will thought.

"Hi Nikki. I'm Mr Shuester." He greeted her kindly "Have you learnt Spanish before?" he questioned, because Nikki would not have been the first new student sent to him with no prior knowledge of the language.

"sí" She answered, and Will smiled again. That would make his job so much easier.

"How long ago did you start to learn it?"

"Since I was about four." Will unintentionally let his jaw drop. It was as if he had been sent the miracle child of new students.

"My parents are big on the whole bilingual thing" she explained to his bewildered expression.

"That's fantastic!" Will exclaimed, getting up to retrieve a fresh work booklet for her begin working on. He quickly explained to her the expectations of the class, though he had no doubts that she would be fine if she'd been learning the language for twelve years. That was longer than he had.

As he returned to his desk to begin tackling the mountain of papers he had to grade, he watched Nikki pull out the white cords of earphones and slip them into her ears. He had no objection to the students listening to music while they worked, so he didn't say anything to her about it.

After around twenty minutes, after growing bored and irritated by marking the papers, Will decided to take a wander around the room. He would make a few laps, make sure no one needed his help, and then he would return to grading, though he hated it.

Will walked slowly around the classroom several times, and to his great disappointment, no one needed him. It was a shame; Will would have given anything to avoid the stack of papers waiting to be graded.

It was then that he heard it. The sound was so small that he wasn't even sure it was really there at first. But then he heard it again, and he hadn't been mistaken. It was singing...

He quickly scanned the room to search for the voice, and soon identified it as Nikki. He slowly wandered over, hoping to get a better listen before she stopped.

"_...'cause I don't want to let you go, and I don't want to lose you slowly..."_

Will was pleasantly surprised. Her voice was soft and melodic, but strong and unflawed at the same time. He was intrigued, and it was so low, Will wondered how he had even picked it up. He doubted that the student in the next desk could even hear her. Will could tell she was completely immersed in her music, so to get her attention, Will gently tapped her on the shoulder. The action made Nikki jump, and she snatched the earphones out and stared at him, slightly astonished.

"Can I see you after class please Nikki?" He asked almost inaudibly, not wanting any of the other students to hear and embarrass her. Nikki nodded slowly, looking terrified.

It wasn't long until the bell rang to signify the end of the lesson, and the students quickly packed up and piled out. When Nikki was the only one who remained, Will shut the door and perched on the edge of his desk.

"I heard you singing." He told her, and her eyes widened slightly.

"I'm so sorry Mr Shuester. I didn't even realise-" she began, her face flushing a violent crimson, but Will held up a hand to stop her.

"You're very good."

"T...thank you." She stammered, suddenly extremely self-conscious.

"What were you singing?" he asked. The song was kind of familiar, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Hanson. 'Georgia'." She replied, smiling awkwardly.

"Hanson? I loved them when I was growing up." Will told her, and she seemed to relax slightly. But only slightly.

"They're my guilty pleasure." Nikki admitted, rubbing her arms.

"You know," Will started "I run the Glee club here."

"Glee club? Isn't that show choir?"

"Yes. I think you'd be amazing in our group."

"I don't know Mr Shuester..." Nikki mumbled, looking down and inspecting her shoes. "I've never really sung in front of anyone before..."

"It's ok." Will assured her. "You don't have to decide right away. If you want, you can come and watch for a few days first."

She still looked unsure so he added "You have talent Nikki. I heard it after just two lines of a song. If you come a few times, and you really don't want to join, I won't try and make you again. Deal?"

After a long minute of 'umm'ing and 'ahhh'ing, Nikki finally agreed.

"Ok." She murmured. Will could tell that she wasn't completely comfortable with the choice, but he was fairly confident that they could change her mind.

"Ok? Alright, we meet in the music room, just down the hall." He told her, sounding a little excited. He couldn't wait to hear the girls range, as he suspected it would a good one. "I'll see you at two forty-five."

When Nikki said goodbye and left the room, Will couldn't help but think that things were about to get a little mixed up. Hello unexpected...


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N Hey :)**_

_**Ok, so I thought I'd give another chapter a try :D**_

_**One thing I want to say is that for a while, this story may be a little slow, but I want to establish a real character in Nikki, so I don't want to rush into it all too quickly and ruin it! So yeah, please give it a try :)**_

_**Please please please let me know what you guys think, even if you just want to tell me that you didn't like it. I won't be offended, but if people don't tell me what they like/don't like I can't do anything about it. Suggestions/ideas/constructive criticism is always more than welcome, and I'll always try to reply to everyone individually. I'll definitely always try to take what is being said into account to! I'm still not sure about whether or not to carry on with this, so yeah...let me know what you think!**_

_**Thanks a million!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter One.<strong>_

"Ok guys," Will announced to New Directions, Nikki following a few paces behind "This is Nikki."

Nikki gave a small wave and a nervous smile, while the kids in front of her looked warily.

"Nikki just moved here from England," Will continued, not missing the glee club's uncertain glances "and she's thinking of joining the glee club, but she's not completely sure yet, so we're just going to let her sit and watch for a while. Ok?"

There was a small round of nods, 'ok's and 'cool's from the students, and Nikki wasn't sure what to do next.

"Did you ever meet the Queen?" Brittany asked, causing a small ripple of laughter throughout the room.

"No." Nikki grinned, slightly more at ease now.

"Alright guys, let get going." Will exclaimed happily "Puck, could you pass Nikki a chair?"

Nikki had to wait for someone to respond to Mr Shuester's request before she knew where to move. She quickly strode over to the boy who got up and pulled a chair out for her. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and thick, muscley arms. Nikki had to admit that she was slightly surprised by his Mohawk; her old school had had a very strict policy on such styles, so it had been rare to see, though she thought that the style suited this boy. She couldn't imagine any of her male friends in England walking around with hair like...Puck, had Mr Shuester called him?

"Thank you." She mumbled to his feet as she took the plastic seat from him and sat speedily, pretending to be distracted by her shirt. It had been strange that morning to get up and have to choose something to wear. Yes, her uniform in England had been ugly and uncomfortable at times, but it had been convenient, and she mentally cursed herself for not choosing something a little more fashionable. Nikki found herself wishing she had traded the big, heavy leather hiking boots that she loved for the more practical grey pumps she had considered, and the slightly close fitting shirt seemed a little boring now, as she looked around and saw what the other girls were wearing.

Nikki's eyes darted around, drinking everything in as the rest of the students got up around her and moved to the middle of the room. They stood in clearly prearranged positions, and Nikki stared in wonder as she watched them begin to go over dance moves. She had never been very good at dancing, she would be the first to admit it, but as she followed the actions of the group, she couldn't help but think how appealing it all looked. Though what they were doing looked like hard work, that had never bothered Nikki and she found herself itching to join in. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun as they glided across the room in an apparently effortless manner, Nikki really considered just asking to join straight away, just so that she could take part right at that moment. But then Nikki found herself gripped by the same paralysing fear that had always stopped her from joining performance groups before. She didn't understand why she had been crippled with such stage fright from such a young age, when she loved music so much and adored the idea of performing, and if frustrated her to no end.  
>When the group were finished, Nikki clapped enthusiastically, grinning widely.<br>"That was incredible." she told them "I'm a hopeless dancer though"  
>"Don't worry." a dark haired girl told her "If we can teach Finn to dance, we can teach anyone." the girl indicated to an extremely tall boy who stood next to her, who pouted playfully at the quip. For the remainder of the session, Nikki listened in awe at the songs, and she suddenly doubted that she was even good enough. My Shuester seemed to think she was, but Nikki wasn't so sure.<br>"Alright boys and girls," my Shuester said with a clap as the clock's hands inched towards four o'clock "that's enough for today."  
>Nikki grabbed her bag and moved towards the door.<br>"That was really great Mr Shuester." she told him, impressed by what she had seen, and seriously considering the idea of joining.  
>"Same time tomorrow?" the teacher replied, and Nikki grinned.<br>"I'll be here."  
>"Fantastic! See you tomorrow Nikki."<br>When Nikki had left, Mr Shuester was surprised to see that none of the other glee kids looked as enthusiastic as he felt about Nikki.  
>"Is she any good, Mr Shue?" Finn asked.<br>"I think she could be amazing, with a little confidence." Will answered honestly as he began to pack up his things.  
>"Are you sure she can get that confidence?" Rachel queried, not looking like she was sure the answer would be a positive one.<br>"What do you mean Rachel?"  
>"Well, she couldn't even look at Puck when he gave her that chair." Mercedes interjected.<br>"It's her first day guys, cut her some slack. She's probably just a little nervous." Will assured them, though he had to admit that he was a little disappointed at their negative outlooks on Nikki. He had heard the girl. He knew that she could really help them, and he couldn't understand why the kids were being so sceptical.  
>"But if she's not confident enough to perform for us, who's to say that she will be able to do it at sectionals, or even regional's?"<br>"It might be tough, but she'll get there guys."  
>"Mr Shuester," Quinn began "We've only just got to a point where we all work well together. What if that changes by bringing someone else in?"<br>"I don't think you guys are being very fair." Will told them, beginning to get a little angry.  
>"Did you talk about me like this when I started?" Rory asked, aware of the fact that he was the last one to join the group.<br>"Or me?" Blaine added.  
>"Well, no" Rachel replied "but you two weren't too nervous to perform."<br>"Not everyone finds confidence as easy as you do Rach." Kurt told her in a low, calm tone.  
>"I understand that, but I just don't think it's a good idea to let her join right now."<br>"Guys," Blaine coughed quietly.  
>"We don't have time to teach her." Santana concluded "Not before sectionals anyway."<br>"Guys," Blaine said again, louder the second time to get their attention, indicating to the door. None of them realised that Nikki had reappeared.  
>"I'm sorry," she mumbled "I forgot my jacket."<br>Without looking at anyone, Nikki quickly retrieved her jacket and left again. If she hadn't been sure before about what choice to make, the group's doubts of her made it for her.  
>It certainly wasn't how she had hoped to end her first day.<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hey guys!**_

_**Ok, so I promise it will pick up soon! I don't want to rush in and leave people knowing nothing at all about Nikki, because I know I would hate that so I wouldn't do it to you lovely people!**_

_**I've decided that I'm going to have a go at continuing this because honestly, I've become obsessed. I find myself always thinking about what I could put in, and I think that if I didn't write it, it would drive me insane haha!**_

_**Please let me know what you all think! I love reading reviews, and I honestly believe that the comments that people have left on my other stories have helped me grow as a writer :) So yeah, let me know what you like/dislike!**_

_**Love lots,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Two.<strong>_

Nikki knew that she was early for Spanish the next afternoon, so she slipped in her earphones and leaned against the wall to wait. However, she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the sound of the glee kid's comments from her head. She tried turning the music up louder, but it didn't make any difference. Nikki knew that it was silly for her to take any of their comments to heart; it had been the first time she had met any of them, and she never had to again. She knew she shouldn't have been concerned with what a group of strangers said about her, but Nikki couldn't ignore the fact that they had simply echoed her own insecurities about joining the show choir. She hated the fact that they had been obvious enough for people to see after less than an hour with her.

The corridors were pretty much empty, and while Nikki wasn't sure why her class seemed to have been let out so early, she was kind of glad for it. She liked having a minute to think, even if her thoughts were not positive ones.

Deciding to distract herself, Nikki began to plan what she would do when she got home. She already knew that her mother wanted her to cook dinner that night. Her father would be busy with the house; her mother would be back late from work; and her older brother Tom was looking for a job to supplement his business course at the university. Nikki knew that all she had to do to amuse her younger brother Kyle was put on some music or the TV and he'd be happy, and her 3 month old sister Rosie didn't need much taking care of.

Nikki loved their new house. It was bright and spacious, and while it currently looked like a bomb site, Nikki couldn't wait for it to be finished.

As Nikki tried to choose between reading a book and watching a film before she went to bed, she heard faint footsteps, and she looked up to see Mr Shuester coming towards the classroom. He saw her and smiled, so Nikki slid the earphones out.

"Hi Nikki. You're early."Will greeted as he unlocked the door.

"Yeah, I had nothing to do, so I thought I'd wait here."

"That's cool." Will replied "Do you want to come in?"

Unsure of how to respond, Nikki simply said "Sure" and followed him into the classroom.

"I'm glad I ran into you actually," Will continued as he dumped the finally graded papers on the desk, ready to hand back to the students "I wanted to talk to you about yesterday."

Nikki had dreaded this conversation, and she silently slid into the same seat as she had occupied the day before. Will perched on the edge of his desk and carried on.

"The kids were out of line yesterday." He told her seriously.

"Its fine Mr Shuester," Nikki replied quietly. "They were right anyway."

"No they weren't. They were wrong to be so judgemental so quickly, and I would have thought that they would have welcomed a new member, regardless of how close we are to competitions."

"Mr Shuester, when I told my mum that I was thinking of joining the glee club, she laughed. She thought that I was joking. That's how absurd the idea of me standing in front of people and performing really is. Your glee kids were right, and I'm not going to make them feel bad to make myself feel better. It's not fair to them."

"It wasn't fair of them to make you feel like this Nikki." Will concluded "A lot of them had never performed before when they first joined. It's not a bad thing. Do you know what I'd do now, if I were in your position?"

"What?" Nikki asked quietly.

"I'd prove them all wrong." Will told her encouragingly.

"I don't know if I can Mr Shuester." Nikki admitted, feeling defeated by her own hesitancies.

"Give it a try. You might surprise yourself." Will shrugged casually "And if you don't, I'll never ask you again."

"That's what you said yesterday." Nikki laughed weakly.

"I really believe that you can do this Nikki. You just need to believe it too. Will we see you this afternoon?"

Will tried not to look disappointed as Nikki's face fell. He wasn't sure what it was about this girl that convinced him of how good she was. The worst part was that she couldn't see it. She was going to say no, and he'd be left wondering what might have happened had she agreed.

"I'll be early." Nikki finally whispered, and as the other students began to pile in, Will grinned and returned to his desk.


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hey people!**_

_**Ok, so it's official: this story has become my latest obsession! When I'm not writing it, I'm thinking about what to write. However, I have a few other stories that have been seriously neglected due to the beginning of this one, so it might be a few days before I update again so that I can catch up with the others for a while! I promise to try not to wait too long though haha :)**_

_**If anyone's got any song suggestions for Nikki, they are more than welcomed!**_

_**Let me know what you all think!**_

_**love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter three.<strong>_

When the members of New Directions walked into the choir room at the end of the day, they were all surprised to see Nikki, sat patiently, waiting for them. It was almost an exact split between the people who were glad to see her there and those who weren't. It wasn't that the others didn't want Nikki there, but they were tired of working so hard and not getting anywhere, and they weren't sure that having Nikki join would help them in any way.

Nikki smiled when they came in, looking braver than she felt. She had spent the majority of her Spanish lesson covertly deciding with Mr Shuester on a song for her to audition with. In the ten minutes or so before the glee club had arrived, Nikki had spent the time going over the song in her head, and while she was sure she knew it well enough, the burst of courage she had felt when agreeing had been short-lived, and now she was terrified. However, Nikki knew that she had told Mr Shuester that she would do it, and she had never been on for backing down, no matter what it was or how much she didn't want to do it.

The first few minutes were spent on introductions. Nikki was amazed at the different varieties of people in the room. She could feel the scrutinising looks from a few of the girls, mostly Rachel and Santana, but she didn't mind. Mr Shuester was more than happy to see them smiling and talking when he came in a few minutes later.

"Alright guys, Nikki has decided that she wants to give auditioning a go." He announced. When the other students began a small round of applause, Nikki could already feel herself blushing.

"Ready Nikki?" Will asked her, an encouraging smile on his face. Nikki couldn't ignore the looks from the other students burning into her skin, but she knew it was now or never.

"Yeah, sure." She lied, taking a deep, slightly shaky breath. Nikki removed her glasses and tucked them into her back pocket, and slid out of her jacket, throwing it over the chair, readying herself slowly in her mind.

"Puck, can you give her a hand on the guitar?" Will asked. Although Nikki had told him that she could play the song herself, he could already see her hands trembling from across the room.

"Sure." Puck replied, getting up and retrieving the guitar. Mr Shuester quietly told him the song and went to sit with the kids to watch. He was pleased with Nikki's song choice, and he wanted Nikki's entire performance to be a surprise, including the song.

"Ready?" Puck asked, prepared to start at any time. Nikki nodded quickly, so Puck began.

Nikki distracted herself from the expectant eyes in the room by counting the beats in her head. She knew when exactly she had to come in, and each second bought it closer and closer.

_...three..._

Nikki could see nods from the glee members as they recognised the song, one of her personal favourites. They seemed to like it.

_...two..._

As Nikki felt her heartbeat in her throat, the blood rushing in her ears and heat cascading over her face, she tried to think of all the things that were supposed to help with stage nerves. She tried to imagine everyone in their underwear; that didn't work. She closed her eyes and pretended that they weren't there; that made things worse by feeding her paranoia. She saw herself in her room, alone and singing into her hair brush; that helped, but only a little.

_...one...go..._

Nikki opened her mouth to begin, but nothing came out. She tried again and still only produced an almost inaudible gasping sound. With each passing second, her cue got further and further away from salvaging. With the hot, sticky feel of embarrassment creeping along her skin, Nikki blinked away pricking tears. She couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to subject herself to such humiliation. She wanted to scream, to cry, to run away or all three.

Will felt a pang of guilt when he looked at the girl. She had told him that she couldn't perform in front of people, but he had fought to convince her anyway. He had put unfair amounts of pressure on Nikki, and now she was the one paying for it. He knew he should have left it alone, listened to Nikki, but he had been _so _sure that she would be great. He'd just had a feeling.

"Mr Shuester, we're wasting time here." Rachel leaned across to tell him, but Nikki still heard.

"I'm sorry, can we start again?" Nikki asked determinedly, to both Puck and Mr Shuester. Although she was painfully shy, Nikki hated to feel disadvantaged, and she loved to defy people's expectations. Puck glanced uncertainly at Mr Shuester, who nodded his permission. He was curious about what was going to happen.

Puck moved his fingers to the original chords and began playing again.

Nikki took a deep breath, glad that Puck hadn't given her chance to back out again, and waited for her cue, her head held high.

"_I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined..."_

Nikki loved Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten' because it echoed a lesson that her father taught her from an early age; that you only have one life to live, and that only we can create out futures.

She started out very softly and quietly, singing to the floor, but as she got further and further into the song, after realising that the sky wasn't going to fall because people were watching her, Nikki began getting into it.

"_Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten..."_

Nikki was a little surprised when she heard other people joining in with the harmonies she had planned on leaving out, but the way all the voices mingled together so perfectly sounded incredible in her ears. The music pulsed in her veins, and felt as natural to her as breathing.

"_The rest is still unwritten; the rest is still unwritten, the rest is still unwritten, oh yeah, yeah..."_

When Nikki finished, the whole room was still and silent. Oh God, she thought, horrified, they hated it. With this thought, and many other similar to it reeling through her mind, Nikki just wanted to leave. She had tried, lord knows she had tried, and it obviously hadn't worked. She was ready to evacuate the classroom with her tail between her legs, completely prepared to never show her face again.

However, she was shocked and confused and a whole load of other emotions when the room erupted with applause. She felt it enveloping her for what felt like a very long time before Mr Shuester came and stood next to her.

"How do you feel Nikki?" He asked, beaming at her proudly as the clapping started to die down.

"Nauseated." She admitted, laughing at the same time "but amazing!"

"See! I knew you could do it! So, are you planning on sticking around?"  
>"That depends: does it feel this good every time?"<p>

"If you're meant to do this, then yes, it will." Will told her honestly, seeing all the agreeing nods from the other students.

"I must warn you; I can't dance." She told them seriously.

"It's ok," Mercedes laughed "if we can teach Finn, anything's possible."

Finn pretended to look hurt, but his face held as big a grin as everyone else's. No one had really been sure what to expect from Nikki. They had known that she must have been good from the fact that Mr Shuester was so determined to make Nikki join, but they had begun to doubt her abilities to perform. If they had known that such a big, strong voice would come out of such an introverted being, they wouldn't have been so reluctant.

"In that case," Nikki concluded happily "where do you want me?"


	5. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Howdy :)**_

_**Ok, so I've fast-forwarded a few weeks because I didn't want the story to get so slow it stopped lol I'm thinking I might get it to a point where it can follow the show with Nikki inserted, but that's just an idea, I might not do that...**_

_**Well, I don't know what else to say until it starts to pick up a little haha! But I promise it will soon :D**_

_**Please let me know what you guys are thinking of this story! I'd love to hear whether you guys are enjoying it, or if you're not, what isn't so good? I know there are some writers who get completely over protective over their work, and don't like it when people criticise their work, but I don't mind! As long as it is constructive criticism, I'm totally open to it, because I truely believe that it will help me grow as a writer :) And it'll help me produce something that you lovely people like reading haha! So yeah, just drop me a little comment... **_

_**:D**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 4.<strong>_  
>"5, 6, 7, 8" will prompted. It had already been a few weeks since Nikki had joined New Directions, and they were only just falling back into a workable routine. Given the reluctances of some of the kids at the beginning, Will was surprised by how well she had been integrated into the group. Nikki was tutoring Finn in Spanish, and Will had seen her with every single member at least once outside the choir room.<br>The problem was Nikki's dancing.  
>As if on cue, Nikki not only tripped herself, but Rory too, leaving them both sprawled across the choir room floor.<br>"God, I'm such an idiot!" Nikki hissed to herself. "I'm really sorry Rory. Are you ok?"  
>"Yeah, I'm fine." Rory replied as he stood and brushed himself off, extending a hand for Nikki.<br>"I am getting rid of these things." she told everyone, reaching down to her large, scuffed leather hiking boots. "I don't even know why I have them. I've never even been hiking."  
>"It's alright," Will interrupted her as she pulled a lace. "Let's call it a day anyway."<br>Nikki sighed dejectedly, frustrated at herself for cutting everyone's rehearsal short. It took only a minute for most of the room to clear out, and only Nikki and Will were left.  
>"I'm really sorry Mr Shue." she said desperately. "I'm trying to do better."<br>"I know you are, and you'll get it." Will assured her, though Nikki could tell that he wasn't completely convinced. Will gathered his things and bade Nikki goodbye, and she decided that she was going to stay for a while. She knew that her position in glee club was a precarious one, and Nikki would do anything to keep it. She was going to stay in the choir room until she got it right.  
>With a sense of renewed determination, Nikki started the cd again. She got into position and counted herself in.<br>Puck had got halfway out of the building before he had realised that he had forgotten his geometry book, so he circled back to get it. The corridors were empty, and all he could hear was the sound of his own footsteps on the linoleum. As much as he hated to admit it, the desertedness of the school after-hours irked him, and his most predominant thought was to get into the open air of the school parking lot.  
>However, he was distracted by music filtering through the air. He could tell that it was the music from glee rehearsal, and he followed it back to the choir room. He stopped in the doorway, but he could see immediately that Nikki was fully immersed in what she was doing, and she didn't notice him. Puck watched silently as long, dark curls tumbled over slender shoulders that were covered with a loose floral patterned shirt. He noticed how her faded jeans hugged her legs comfortably, and he suspected that the bulky boots that adorned her feet made them look bigger than they actually were. Even from where he stood, Puck could see the sheer concentration in Nikki's face as she did the steps in the dance. She had made it successfully through at least half of the steps, but the turns always seemed too much for her colossal incoordination, and Nikki once again ended up on her rear. She grunted irritably when she hit the ground with an oomph.<br>"Wow." Puck finally said, making Nikki jump as she realised he was there. "You give a new meaning to the term 'two left feet'."  
>"Thanks Puck." Nikki replied sarcastically "You're encouragement is incredibly useful."<br>"I could lie." he told her as he walked over and held out a hand to help her up "but what help would that be?"  
>"I suppose you're right." Nikki agreed as she took Puck's hand and let him pull her to his feet.<br>"I'm never going to get this." she sighed "And everyone'll kick me out."  
>"No one's going to kick you out Nikki"<br>"I would!" she exclaimed with a half bitter laugh "If someone as ad as me joined a club I was in, I would tell them to get lost."  
>"*That* is your problem." Puck told her firmly "You're being too hard on yourself. You need to relax and *feel* the music."<br>"That's easy for you to say," Nikki replied "you can do the moves."  
>"I'll help you."<br>"I'm sure you have much better things to be doing with your time."  
>"No. Not really." he said kindly, and Nikki smiled. "Come on, I'll walk you through it."<br>Puck put the music back on and counted aloud the beats, which Nikki felt helped her concentration a lot more than if she had counted herself. Once again, when they got to the turn, Nikki stumbled, though she didn't stumble, which was at least an improvement. She grounded loudly in frustration, and Puck silenced the cd player.  
>"It's ok." he told her encouragingly "Let's try something else."<br>Puck knelt down in front of her, and Nikki was thoroughly confused by his actions, but she didn't say anything.  
>"Close your eyes." Puck requested. Though she knew it was strange, Nikki did as she was asked.<br>"Let me control your feet." Puck continued, and Nikki followed his lead as she felt him tugging on the bottom of her jeans, humming a slowed down version of the song.  
>"Now turn." he told her at the correct beat.<br>"No!" she exclaimed, keeping her eyes closed. "I'll fall flat on my face, and then I'll look like an even bigger idiot."  
>"Nikki, I'm not going to let you fall." he told her seriously. "Look at me."<br>Nikki slowly opened her eyes and looked down, directly into his light brown orbs.  
>"Do you trust me?" he asked.<br>"Yes." she whispered honestly, struck by how true her answer was, despite only knowing the boy for a few weeks.  
>"Then do it."<br>Nikki took a deep, shaky breath, closed her eyes and spun. She could feel Puck's large, firm hands directing her feet. After a flash of certainty that she was going to fall on the floor, her thoughts were jolted by the sound of Puck's voice.  
>"See. You're not so bad Winters."<br>Nikki's eyes flew open when she realised she was still again. All she saw was the back of Puck as he threw a goodbye over his shoulder, leaving Nikki bewildered at what she had just achieved. It wasn't a lot, but just the idea that she could do it at least once left Nikki feeling like a whole new set of doors had been opened for her. What she didn't realised was that Puck had known that she could do it all along.


	6. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Hey! :)_**

**_Ok, so in the grand scheme of things, this chapter is not overly important (but don't skip it haha!) but the aim of this chapter was to establish some friendships. _**

**_I intended for this to be quite a short chapter since I didn't even intend to write it. It just kind of came out the end of my pen haha :) However, it ended up being just as long as the other chapter lol ;)_**

**_Alright, I'm going to shut up now and let you all read it! Let me know what you think!_**

**_xoloveJBox_**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 5<strong>_

Nikki stomped angrily into the choir room, brandishing a freshly graded paper.

"If I fail one more English paper because of my spelling, I'm going to flip my lid." She announced to no one in particular.

"I'm sure your spelling can't be that bad Nikki. Let me take a look." Rachel offered. Usually, Nikki would have been a little embarrassed over her bad grade, but she was in too much of a bad mood to care, and she thrust the paper into Rachel's outstretched hand. Nikki sat with her arms folded irritably while Rachel scanned the essay, with Quinn reading it over Rachel's shoulder.

"Well there's your problem Nikki, you're not using the American spellings of some of these words." Rachel told her matter-of-factly, noticing a pattern between all the words underlined in red.

"I know what the problem is Rachel, I just don't know how to stop."

"It can't be that difficult, right?"

"I'll tell you what, why don't you take a letter out of your name Rachel, and see how long it takes you to learn the new spelling. Then times it by however many words are spelt differently in America." Nikki said bitterly, but when she saw the almost hurt look on the other girl's face, a part of her anger ebbed away and was replaced with a sense of guilt.

"I'm sorry," she murmured "I'm in a bad mood. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"If you want," Quinn interjected, "I can look through your essays before you hand them in, to make sure you haven't missed any spellings."

The offer surprised Nikki. In the weeks since she had joined New Directions, the pretty, slender blonde had barely said two words to her. When they had spoken, it had mostly been pleasantries, and they hadn't had a real conversation.

"It's ok" Nikki dismissed casually "It's not just English anyway."

"I don't mind." Quinn told her. Nikki found herself wandering if the suggestion was a genuine one. But looking carefully at Quinn's face, Nikki could tell that she was serious, and frankly, it shocked her.

"Are you sure?" she queried, unsure whether to accept this unexplained act of kindness.

"Yeah, it's no problem." Quinn told her, laughing a little, finding Nikki's scepticism slightly amusing. When Quinn thought about it, she could remember a time when she would have reacted the same way, and it wasn't really so long ago.

"That would be incredible." Nikki told her.

"We can help too, if you want." Blaine and Kurt added. They were sitting just behind the two girls, though Nikki hadn't been aware that they had been listening. It took her by surprise to see that their conversation had dominated most of the room, and the majority of people were giving her nods of compliance.

"Us too." Agreed Artie and Tina.

Nikki found herself to be speechless. She couldn't explain the seemingly random act of kindness that was happening to her. Ever since she had arrived, she had faced pretty much constant ridicule over her accent at school, and she had lost count how many times she had been told to 'go back to where she came from'. It didn't seem to matter to people that her father was from Boston, and her mother was from Alabama, so she was just as American as the majority of the students at McKinley. Her parents had moved to England when her older brother Tom had been two, and Nikki had been born just a year later. Nikki knew just as much American history as she did British, and her parents had always pushed her to pursue things she enjoyed, which was one of the main reasons she could speak so fluently in not only Spanish, but French, German, Italian and Polish too. There were not a lot of things that Nikki would personally admit to being good at- she didn't like to appear big headed and she felt uncomfortable talking about herself- but languages was definitely one. However, Nikki knew that no matter how much she wanted it, being good at something like speaking foreign languages was not going to make you fit in with the 'it' crowd. Nikki had no interest in being a cheerleader, she didn't keep up with the latest fashion trends, celebrity gossip bored her, and she didn't listen to current or mainstream music. While she may not have been completely comfortable with herself, Nikki accepted that she was who she was, and she liked to think that no one could pressure her into changing herself unless she wanted to.

The look of shock must have been evident on her face, so Quinn simply continued without waiting for Nikki to respond.

"I know what it's like to be an outsider everywhere you look Nikki. I'm sure we all do, and I don't know about anyone else in here, but this choir room is the only place that I always feel like I fit in. I want it to be the same for you" Quinn told her quietly, in a voice so soft it was hard for Nikki not to find it soothing. "It's come to our attention that you maybe haven't received the warmest of welcomes, and we probably could have made more of an effort to change that. We're all sorry for that Nikki. You know, we all talked about it, and we want to make sure you know that we're family. A very mismatched, slightly dysfunctional family, but a family none the less, and you're a part of that."

"You're one of us now Pretty Mama," Mercedes told her, laughing with a broad, cheeky grin. "Whether you like it or not."

Nikki gave a wide, ecstatic, beaming smile. She couldn't help herself. She looked around, and every face was turned to hers. Nikki was completely blown away by what had just happened, and she loved it. It was the first time in longer than she cared to remember that she felt at ease anywhere. And she had to admit that she liked the sound of what Mercedes had said.

One of them.


	7. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Hey!**_

_**Ok, so it's starting to get moving a little bit now, but only a little bit haha :) I promise things will start to happen soon lol **_

_**Please please please let me know what you guys all think! Reviews really do act as my motivation for writing, as well as letting me know what to do more/less of so that people enjoy this story!**_

_**Also, I've been looking at the traffic stats thingy for this story, and I must say; my mind was BLOWN! So many people have been reading this, and while I know that doesn't mean people actually LIKE it, the thought that so many people have read something that I have written, it just...I can't even describe it! So thank you all so so much!**_

_**Bye for now! Hopefully it won't be long before I get another chapter completed!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Six.<strong>_

The rain hammered down heavily on Puck's car as he drove home. Glee rehearsal had over run, and he was glad to be going home. The windscreen wipers were having trouble keeping up, and a brisk walking figure coming up on his side distracted Puck.

Through the rain, it took Puck a minute to realise that it was Nikki, holding a jacket over her head, though it wasn't doing a lot of good. Puck thought about carrying on home, but even the idea made him feel guilty, so he slowed and rolled down his window.

"Nikki" he called, making her jump slightly "What are you doing?"

"I missed the bus," she replied, yelling to make herself heard over the roaring downpour.

"Get in, I'll give you a ride." He told her, getting ready to stop the car for her.

"Its fine, really." She assured him casually. "I don't want to get your car wet."

"Nikki, I don't care about that. Don't be so stubborn."

"Puck, it's seriously ok. My house is only about 5 minutes away, but thank you anyway."  
>Puck sighed and surprised Nikki by pulling over the car, getting out and running over to her, ducking under her jacket.<p>

"What are you doing?" She asked, totally bewildered as she watched the rain already dripping from him.

"I'm going to make sure you get home ok, so if you're not going to get in the car, we're going to have to walk, right?"

"But now I feel guilty for making you get wet."

"Then get in the car." Puck replied.

Nikki finally agreed then, unable to deny or argue with the cheeky, innocent looking grin on the boy's face. They rushed back over to the car and piled in quickly. Though he had been out in the fierce weather for a minute or so, Puck was soaked to his skin, and when he noticed Nikki dithering, he turned the heating up.

"Where are we going?" Puck asked as he pulled away slowly from the curb. Nikki told his the address, and when he worked out where it was, he raised an eyebrow.

"That's more than 5 minutes away."

Nikki pretended not to hear the comment while she removed her glasses, wiping them on the sleeve of her jacket, though the attempt was futile. When she realised this, Nikki dug around in her back, retrieved a plastic case, and pulled out a small cloth that had somehow managed to stay dry. When he glanced across at her, Puck noticed that her eyelashes were glittered with rain drops, her already bright eyes sparkling. Her curls were clinging to her face and neck, and water dripped from her cheeks. She wiped it away quickly before returning her glasses to her face.

While they drove along, the two of them chatted casually, mostly about glee club, until a sudden feeling hit Puck and he groaned.

"What's wrong?" Nikki asked, a look of concern on her face.

"I need to use the bathroom." Puck admitted sheepishly. He blushed slightly when Nikki's response was laughter.

"What?" he asked, finding himself joining in with the contagious sound.

"That was just really random." She giggled heartily.

"I can't help it if I need to tinkle." He replied, and he surprised himself when he realised that he was disappointed when her melodic tittering faded.

A minute or so later, Puck pulled up in front of the house Nikki had directed him to, and he watched as she gathered her things, preparing to brave the weather.

"Thank you very much Puck." She told him, and she felt a sharp pang of guilt as she squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Do you want to use the bathroom before you go?"

He thought about declining, but he was growing desperate.

"Are you sure that's ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's the least I can do."

They both clambered out of the car and Puck followed Nikki to the front door.

It was fairly quiet inside the house; Puck could hear rustling in another room, and distant muffled sounds of a TV, but that was all. When the front door was closed, Nikki dumped her sodden bag on the floor, and peeling off her dripping jacket.

"It's this way." She told him, leading him down a long, wide corridor. The walls were half painted, with half removed paper dangling in places. At a glance, Puck could see years of decorating in layers in the walls, like a timeline.  
>"My dad's not as effective at decorating as he'd like to think he is." Nikki explained sheepishly when she saw him looking.<p>

As they passed through what looked like it could be a living room, Nikki called "Hey Kyle" to the back of a small, dark haired watching the TV, though he gave no indication that he'd heard her. When they got to another door, Nikki pushed a box of ceramic tiles out of the way with her foot and stopped.

"Here you go."

Puck thanked her and quickly went in. When he came out, feeling a lot better, Nikki was drying her hair with one towel and holding out another for Puck. He took it gratefully and dabbed at the drops of rain that remained on his arms and face.

"Nikki, your house is huge." He told her in awe as he took in more of the building around him.

"It's a shame it still looks like a bombsite." Nikki laughed "its dad's project."

As if on cue, a man appeared from another room. Puck knew immediately that it was Nikki's father, she looked just like him. They shared the same thick, curly dark hair, and their noses matched almost perfectly. The most striking difference was their eyes. Nikki's eyes were big and bright, an intensely light shade of blue with streaks of emerald that gave an almost overwhelming sense of kindness and innocence. Her father's were a deep, rich brown that were soft and knowing.

"Hi Dad." She greeted the man, who was wiping what looked like paint from his fingers with an old, tattered rag.

"Hello." Mr Winters replied, holding out his hand to Puck, who was surprised when the man's voice revealed an American accent.

Nikki laughed, and Puck guessed that he hadn't been very successful in hiding his marvel.

"Dad's from Boston." She explained "My parents moved from the states to the UK a year before I was born."

"Cool." Puck answered, unable to think of a better, more intelligent sounding answer.

Puck didn't stay for very long. When her father went back to painting, and an unseen baby began to scream, eliciting loud protests from Kyle, Puck found himself in awe over the fact that he was disappointed to be leaving. He couldn't understand the strange mix of emotions he felt towards the new girl; though he was no stranger to whirl wind emotional roller coaster rides. He was intrigued by her curiously shy nature that was sometimes streaked with a fierce intensity. Her accent drove him insane, though there were times when he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He found some of the little phrases she said endearing, even if he didn't understand most of them. Despite the fact that Nikki had only joined the glee club a few weeks before, Puck could already tell that she was smart, kind and sweet, and God, she could sing.

If he'd wanted to, Puck could have gone on and on in his list of things that he liked about Nikki.

While he couldn't comprehend the feelings, there was one thing Puck was sure about; he'd never felt them before, but he definitely liked them.


	8. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Hey guys, how's things?**_

_**So I know it's been a little while since I last updated, but this is quite a long chapter, so hopefully it will make up for it. The next chapter will probably only be a really short one, so that may be up tomorrow or the next day :) The good news is, I have two weeks break, so I should be able to get a fair amount written for this story in that time so Yay! :D**_

_**Alright, I'm going to shut up now lol Reviews are welcomed and much appreciated!**_

_**love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Seven.<strong>_

"This is coming along great guys!" Will exclaimed as the New Directions finished running through their dance number. "And Nikki, I think that's the first time you've got the whole way through without falling over."

"I had a good teacher," she replied modestly, her cheeks flushing light pink while a spattering of applause began.

"Yeah you did." Puck agreed with a wide, cocky grin as he held up a hand for a high five.

"Puck?" Rachel marvelled as Nikki reciprocated his outstretched palm.

"Yes, a couple of times a week." Nikki explained as she walked back over to her dance partner, Rory. She looked back at Puck and smiled, as he threw her a wink. However, there was something in her grin. It was almost invisible, a passing shadow of a deeper feeling she was trying to hide. No one else could see it, and although he didn't know why, Puck could. Her clear eyes were foggy with another feeling, but before Puck could identify it, it was gone.

"I'll tell you what; since the two of you obviously work well together, why don't you trade partners?" Will suggested. Sugar, who had been Puck's partner, and Nikki switched places in the room. However, as they got ready to start the music again, the bell rang to signal the end of the day. The group gathered their things and left, but just like any other day, Nikki and Puck remained. When it was just the two of them again, Puck turned to her.

"Nikki, what's wrong?" her asked, his face full of concern.

"Nothing." Nikki murmured, inspecting her feet.

"Don't lie to me Nikki Winters." Puck warned, looking at her expectantly.

Suddenly, and completely without warning, Nikki burst into tears. It took Puck a few seconds to fully absorb the scene unfurling in front of him, but when it did, without thinking, he crossed the room and wrapped long, solid arms around her. For a couple of minutes he let her sob on his chest, holding her tightly as he whispered soft encouragements into the crown of her head.

After a while, only small sniffling remained, and Nikki gently pushed away from Puck, wiping her face on her sleeve. Her eyes and cheeks were pink and puffy, her glasses slightly speckled with dark mascara that had run.

"What's wrong?" Puck asked again, softly.

"My, err... My house caught fire last night?" she explained shakily.

"Oh my god." Puck gasped "Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, everyone's fine, it wasn't a big fire, and there's no structural damage. But pretty much everything that had been decorated already needs doing again."  
>"What's the problem with that?" he asked, slightly confused.<p>

"We've been here almost four months now. The very little decorating that had been done has now been destroyed. We only came here, to Ohio, because my brother wanted to come to university here. Since he's never lived in America before, my parents didn't want to leave him alone, but if it had been up to my mum, we'd have gone straight to Alabama. She's gone away for the weekend, but she's told Dad that if there isn't a noticeable change by the time she gets back, she's phoning the estate agent in Alabama on Monday morning."

As she spoke, Puck could see fresh tears welling up behind Nikki's glasses, and he wanted to say something comforting, but he couldn't find the right words, so he stayed quiet and let her carry on.

"Puck, you've seen our house, and now it's worse. Dad's not going to be able to make a difference by Sunday afternoon, and I don't want to go to Alabama."

Sensing that she was about to cry again, Puck pulled her close and hugged her tightly, feeling ragged breaths leaving her body as she tried to keep herself composed.

"It's going to be ok," he told her "I promise."

It was early the next morning when Nikki padded down the stairs in slippers, pjs and a thick, fluffy robe to respond to the knocking on the door. Yawning, she poked her head into the living room to check the clock. It was eight fifteen. She hadn't even realised that there was more than one eight fifteen on a Saturday.

Sighing, she grabbed the keys and unlocked the door, squinting in the bright morning sun as she pulled it open.

"Surprise!" came a brigade of voices, and Nikki's eyes widened when she was greeted with the faces of New Directions in its entirety.

"What are you guys doing here?" she stammered out in shock.

"Puck told us what happened to your house." Rachel told her.

"We don't want you to go to Alabama!" Artie exclaimed.

"So we thought we'd come and give you guys a hand." Mercedes added, and the whole group, including Mr Shuester, held up tins of paint, brushes, rollers and other DIY tools.

"And we figured that we could hold a paintbrush and sing at the same time, so it's the perfect opportunity to get in some extra rehearsal." Concluded Quinn.

"I...I don't know what to say." Nikki breathed.

"You don't have to say anything." Puck told her, grinning wildly "Just let us in and tell us where you want us."

Within twenty minutes, Nikki was dressed in old jeans and a baggy jumper.

"Where's your bed?" Quinn had asked when she entered Nikki's bedroom, seeing the mattress on the floor "And the wardrobe?"  
>"In boxes, underneath the dining room table." Nikki had replied simply, as if it were nothing unusual. She shrugged casually "Dad hasn't had chance to put them up yet, and they were too big for me to do it myself."<p>

"Then it's a good job we bought plenty of big, strong guys." Mercedes laughed.

They all got to work straight away, and Nikki was amazed at how quickly everything seemed to take shape. In less than an hour, the kitchen had been painted, drying ready for a second coat; the stairs had been carpeted; both Rosie and Kyle's room had been painted and arranged, and other rooms were well on their way to being completed. They each took turns in keeping an eye on the two young children. Being the only one who could sow, Nikki adjusted the curtains to the right sizes for each room- a task that took up a great chunk of the morning. Despite the fact that they were all in different rooms, doing different things on different floors of the house, they still managed to practise their songs.

"You know," Mr Winters told Puck and Will as they put together the cabinets for the kitchen wall. "It's really nice to see her so happy. I'd never imagined that she would ever have the confidence to do what she obviously loves." Nikki's father smiled warmly as Nikki walked past the doorway, completely unaware of their conversation.

When the cabinets were assembled, Puck wondered off in search of Nikki; finding her in would end up being the laundry room with Artie and Quinn. Nikki was totally immersed in her conversation, and didn't notice him when he came in. Silently, he dipped a brush in the tin of white paint besides the door and snuck up behind her. When he wiped the brush over the end of her nose, leaving a thick white trail on her face, Nikki squealed and shoved him playfully. She could feel him very close to her as he took the roller from her hand and helped her reach the top end of the wall she was painting. He couldn't understand why he felt an intense need to be near her, but he did, and all he knew was that he enjoyed the proximity. He could feel the heat radiating from her back, her hair tickling the bottom of his face.

She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, his chest against her shoulder blades. One of his hands was reaching up with the paint roller, and the other was edging towards her waist. This didn't surprise Nikki; what surprised her was the fact that she didn't mind.


	9. Chapter 8

_**A/N Hey!**_

_**Ok, so as promised, here is the next chapter! It's only a short one, but still... haha**_

_**Alright, hopefully it won't be too long until the next chapter, but I'm making no promises lol :D I know I haven't used many songs yet, but it won't be long until that changes :) The songs I've used so far are:**_

_**Hanson- Georgia**_

_**Natasha Beddingfield- Unwritten**_

_**I own nothing but Nikki! **_

_**Reviews are welcomed and very much appreciated!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Eight.<strong>_

Nikki emerged from her bathroom that night, thoroughly exhausted from an exceedingly long day, to see Quinn sat cross-legged on the bed. It was weird for Nikki to see her mattress on a frame, but she liked it. It had been almost seven in the evening when Mr Shuester and New Directions had left Nikki's house, all tired and speckled with paint, and Quinn had volunteered to stay to help with the finishing touches. Too enveloped with fatigue, Nikki had simply suggested that Quinn stay the night and they would continue in the morning.

Now the two girls were in pjs and getting ready for sleep. Quinn looked up when Nikki came back in, seeing the girl in different ways since the conversation they'd had with Artie that afternoon, just before Puck had come in. However, before Quinn had a chance to bring it up again, a knock on the door distracted them both. A quizzical look on her face, Nikki pulled open the door and revealed her younger brother Kyle.

"Goodnight Nikki," the small boy chimed, holding out his arms for Nikki to lift him up. Nikki grinned and pulled the boy into her arms.

"Goodnight Pal." She replied, planting a playfully over exaggerated kiss on Kyle's cheek, making him squirm and giggle. "Say night to Quinn."

"Goodnight Quinn." Kyle echoed as Nikki lowered him back to the ground.

Quinn gave the boy a small wave as he ran out the room and down the corridor.

"He's sweet." Quinn commented as Nikki closed the door again.

"I know." Nikki agreed "It's a shame Tom's not as nice as him."

"Tom?"

"My older brother." Nikki explained "he's at university."

The two sat up for a while talking, with Quinn asking lots of questions about England.

"You know," she observed "I'm surprised you don't sound more like Liz Hurley."

"Nobody in England sounds like Liz Hurley," Nikki laughed "In fact, I'm pretty sure Liz Hurley doesn't even really sound like Liz Hurley."

"I think Puck likes you." Quinn told Nikki seriously when their giggling died down a little.

"I like him too, he's a nice guy." Nikki replied casually.

"No. I mean he _likes _you." Quinn stressed, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I seriously doubt that." Nikki scoffed "Why would someone like Puck like someone like me?"  
>"I'm deadly serious Nikki. He does things with you that I've never seen him do with other people."<p>

"Like what?" Nikki asked, slightly amused.

"Like with this afternoon."

"You think Puck likes me, because he put paint on my nose." Nikki grinned sceptically.

"No, with the painting," Quinn corrected "he wanted to be close to you."

"You're being ridiculous." Nikki told Quinn good-heartedly.

"I'm telling you Nikki; I've seen him with a lot of girls-"

"A lot of girls?" Nikki interrupted.

"That's not the point," Quinn dismissed with a wave of her hand "The point is, I've never seen him look at any them the way he does at you."

Nikki sunk into thought then, leaning back on her elbows. When she didn't say anything, Quinn simply continued.

"You know, when you first got here, I didn't really think you'd be the kind of person I'd get along with. I know this might sound a little weird, or creepy or whatever because you've only been here a little while, but I think you're probably my best friend right now."

Nikki smiled warmly at the other girl. "It's not weird Quinn. I never really had many friends in England, so it surprised me when you guys all seemed to just take me in, but out of everyone, you've done the most to make me feel welcome. So thank you Quinn."

"No problem Nikki." Quinn grinned "now let's go to sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow, and you're going to have a hard time competing with us if you're in Alabama."

Quinn and Nikki both lay down, laying top to toe in the bed, and Nikki leaned over to flick the switch on her small bedside table that Puck had assembled for her that afternoon. Plunged into darkness and thinking of Puck, Nikki considered what Quinn had said. She pictured the boy in her mind, and wondered if Quinn had been on to something. Nikki recalled every touch from their dance lessons, every wild grin, and the way he had been so determined to make sure she had got home safely that day it had rained. At the time she had simply dismissed them as him being kind, but what there really was something else behind his actions. She also thought about the day before, when she had cried on his chest. She hadn't intended to break down in front of him, but he had held her pretty tightly, and Nikki had taken a lot of comfort from it. More than she had expected from someone she had only known a few months.

As she dozed off into much welcomed sleep, Nikki couldn't help but wonder if it would be so bad if Quinn was right?


	10. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Howdy!**_

_**Okie dokie, I forgot to mention on the last chapter, Quinn is slightly out of character in this story, because while Beth still exists in this, Quinn isn't hell bent on screwing up things for Shelby. **_

_**Hopefully you all like this chapter :) My friend read it for me, but she's slightly biased haha It might be a few days until I can update again, because my other stories have been seriously negleted because of this one lol **_

_**Reviews are extremely welcomed, and definitely appreciated! I'd love to hear what people think of this story, even if you don't particularly like it!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Nine.<strong>_

Nikki walked into the choir room on Monday, a new spring in her step after a hectic, but good weekend. She was one of the last to arrive to rehearsal, and when she entered, the others all looked expectantly at her.

"Well?" Puck asked when she didn't say anything for a while.

"Well what?" she queried, feigning ignorance.

"Tell us you're not going to Alabama!"

"I'm not going to Alabama." Nikki replied warmly, and a round of cheering erupted. "Which reminds me," she added when the noise level lowered. "Since my mother would be half way through packing up our house if you guys hadn't spent your entire weekends decorating; Saturday night, breadstix, my treat."

"Ok guys, sorry I'm late. Let's get going, huh?" Will said as he walked in, interrupting their celebrations.

For the next hour, the glee club ran over their numbers several times, and when the minute hand of the clock swept around full circle, everyone but Nikki and Puck left.

"I didn't think we'd be doing this anymore." Nikki observed when the two were alone.

"I didn't make you stay/" Puck shrugged indifferently.

"Well, I just thought that we wouldn't have to anymore since it won't be long until I'm better at this than you anyway." Nikki joked as she wandered over the piano.

Puck laughed "Oh really?"

"Yes." She replied, a wry grin on her face as she began pressing down seemingly random keys on the large instrument, no particular song coming out.

"Can I ask you something?" Nikki enquired.

"Shoot." Puck smiled.

"Why does everyone call you Puck?"

"My last name's Puckerman." He explained

"Oh," Nikki replied "What's your first name?"

"Noah."

"Noah," Nikki said quietly, rolling the name around her tongue "I like it. Noah suits you."

"What about you? What's Nikki short for?"

Nikki laughed and began to play a song, singing to avoid the question.

"_Making my way down town, walking fast, faces pass as I'm home bound..." _

Puck watched her as she sang, her eyes sparkling, the first time he had heard her properly since the day she had auditioned for them.

As she finished, Puck had forgotten his question, and as he gazed at her, he knew that there was something about Nikki Winters that took his breath away.

Every time.

"Will you teach me something." He asked, the request escaping from his mouth before he'd had chance to think about it.

"Sure" She replied softly, shuffling over and tapping the stool. Puck climbed in next to her, their shoulders brushing slightly. Puck wasn't sure what made him actually listen as she began to explain to him; he had no interest in learning the piano, because he enjoyed his guitar too much, but her voice was captivating and melodic, and he found it hard _not _to pay attention.

"Ok, now you try." She told him. Puck placed his fingers on the keys and played what she had shown him, but it sounded odd and he knew he'd done it wrong.

"No, like this." Nikki corrected him gently, reaching across and taking his hands to physically show him. However, Puck took her warm, long, slender fingers and wrapped them in his, their palms touching, thumbs brushing.

It was now or never, he thought.

Nikki felt her breath catch in her throat as Puck leaned closer to her face. She knew what was coming. Even if she had wanted to, Nikki couldn't have moved or objected in that moment, glued to the spot by the subtle, but fierce intensity of what was unfolding. She closed her eyes just as Noah's lips swept softly against hers, landing on her cheek before returning to her lips.

Puck had always laughed at the analogy of a first kiss being like fireworks; he had found it incredulous and hard to believe. But now he understood it, and it was so much more than he had expected. Her lips were smooth and soft, like freshly made bed-sheets, or undisturbed snow in the early hours of a winter morning. Puck could taste the lingering remnants of the milk and honey lip balm she favoured. Her hair tickled his face, and the frame of her glasses scratched slightly his cheek, but he didn't care.

He didn't care. He couldn't imagine a more perfect moment in his life.

Nikki felt Puck take her other hand, intertwining fingers as they kissed. She sat rigid for a minute, unsure what to do. She hated to admit that she'd never been kissed before, and she began to wonder if she was even doing it right. Nikki found herself comparing it to all the soppy romance novels that she thrived on, and then cursed herself for being so childish. This wasn't the pages of a book, filled with imaginary characters, and events that were so perfectly timed that couldn't possibly be true; this was real life, and it was happening to her, right then! With this bewildered realisation fluttering through her fogged mind, Nikki relaxed. She hoped that her disappointment wasn't too evident when Puck pulled away; still gripping her hands, and looked deeply into her eyes. She was dizzy with the proximity, but the very thing that had sent her reeling was the same as what was keeping her grounded.

"I have to go home." She whispered, thinking 'No! No you don't! Don't tell him that!'

"Let my drive you." He replied, just as quietly, leaning in and kissing her cheek. She nodded, and they got up, gathered their things; and as they walked out the door, their hands found each other again, like magnets. As she felt Noah's thumb rubbing soft, small circles against hers, Nikki couldn't help but partake in her own impression of the Cheshire Cat.


	11. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Howdy again!  
>I know I said it would be longer this time between updates so that I could work on my other stories and stuff, but I got a little over excited and wrote this today anyway :D <strong>_

_**Ok, so this is probably the most fluffiest, sickeningly sweet thing I've ever wrote, and I promise it will ease off a little soon (I think) Also, in the next few chapters, there will be emphasis on friendships too, not just this whole Nikki/Puck stuff. Just a warning in advance, in a few chapters time, it will get a little depressing. Mostly because I think I have this pathological problem where I'm incapable of writing anything without depression (lol) but also because although Glee is, primarily, a comedy, it also tackles some quite dark issues. In real life bad things happen, and so I thought it would be acceptable to put some things in here too. In the end though, it all makes Nikki and Puck closer so I suppose that makes up for it haha :) I think I'm also going to try and work in a few of the things that happen in season 3 into the story, so lets see how that works out too x**_

_**Rant over :)**_

_**If anyone's got anything they want too see/don't want to see, or has any suggestions or songs they want to see, let me know. Obviously, if theres things you don't like, tell me those too! Reviews make me happy! **_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 10.<strong>_

Nikki was at her locker next morning when Puck arrived. There weren't many people around, because Puck knew that Nikki came to school early, and he wanted to see her.

Puck watched her for a minute from the end of the corridor. Her long hair was pulled into a high ponytail, only her fringe left to fall over her face. White iPod cables dangled from her ears, and Puck could see her mouthing the words to whatever song she was listening to. Nikki was wearing dark blue skinny jeans with a grey baggy t-shirt, tightened around the waist with a wide, black belt.

As Nikki continued to put her books into the locker, Puck strode down the corridor towards her. However, distracted by the song in her ears, Nikki didn't notice him until she felt his arms wrap around her waist, and he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Good Morning," he murmured in her ear as he removed an earphone.

"Hey," Nikki replied as she slipped the other one out and tucked them into her pocket.

"About yesterday," Puck started, a wide grin spread across his face.

"What about it?" Nikki asked, feeling the warmth radiating comfortingly from the boy.

"I thought it was amazing. What about you?" He told her simply, as honest as he could ever remember being.

"I don't think it should happen again."

Puck felt his arms loosen, and Nikki turned to face him. He could see his own bewildered expression in the reflection on her glasses.

"What?" he blustered "Wasn't it what you wanted?"

"It was exactly what I wanted, and that's why it can't happen again."

"Ok, I'm pretty sure that that doesn't make sense to anyone else but you." Puck replied disheartened.

"Look, Noah, so far I have a good thing going on here, and I don't anything to ruin that."

"And you think I'm going to ruin it for you?" he exclaimed, slightly hurt by the idea.

"No, Noah, I think _I'm _going to ruin it. I have a tendency to do that to myself a lot."

"Nikki, come on-"

Nikki closed her locker, her arms bundled with books as she turned back to Noah.

"And I'm going to need a lot of convincing" She concluded "if I'm going to change my mind."

As Nikki began to walk away, Puck allowed a small smile to spread across his cheeks. He knew what she was doing now. It was like female instinctual thing, to make sure they weren't going to get hurt, to make sure that the other person was worthy.

"I'm not going to give up that easily you know." He called after her retreating figure.

"I'm counting on it." Nikki replied coolly, a wide grin spreading over her face.

"Ok, let's get going guys." Will told them that afternoon in glee rehearsal.

"Actually Mr Shue," Puck interrupted, stopping everyone as they made their way into their positions. "I was wondering if I could do a song first?"

"Err, sure Puck, go ahead." Will replied, a little bit surprised by the request, because Puck didn't do it often. Everyone, including Will took a seat, and waited while Puck collected his guitar and sat in front of them. He had spent all day trying to think of a song he could sing to Nikki, to show her exactly how he felt. It had occurred to him mid-morning, during English, because he didn't really pay attention in English anyway. He had used his lunch break to print off the words and chords, to make sure he didn't mess them up, because he wanted it all to be perfect. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, and he gave a smile and a wink to Nikki, hoping that she would understand that it was for her.

Puck had never been nervous about performing, but something about the thought of singing to Nikki made him a little shaky. He took a deep breath and began.

"_The strands in your eyes that colour them wonderful, stop me and steal my breath__..."_

He wasn't sure what made him so convinced that Edwin McCain's 'I'll be' faultless for this occasion. He just knew that it was, and he wasn't going to waste the opportunity to prove it. Looking around, Puck could tell that almost everyone in the room was slightly bored by him impromptu performance, not understand where it had come from, but Nikki was completely enthralled. Her eyes glittered happily, and she beamed at him. No one had ever made her feel so special. For a minute, she had thought that she was being beheaded, and was assuming that Noah was singing to her, even though he hadn't specifically said so. She had considered that their conversation that morning had taken its toll on his feelings for her, and he was directing his attentions elsewhere, but the way he was looking at her so intently let her know that wasn't the case.

Puck had known all along that his feelings towards Nikki were a little- no, a _lot_- irrational. He had only known her a few months, and surely that was not long enough to feel so strongly? But he did, and he couldn't explain it, but he didn't want to. He worried that thinking too much about how ridiculous the idea was, and adding an explanation to would take something away from whatever it was that was starting, and he didn't want to ruin it. He would show Nikki, he would make her understand that she was different. Puck had seen Nikki with Quinn a lot; he knew that Quinn had probably told the new girl about all the different girls he'd been with, but if she had, Nikki didn't seem particularly bothered by it. And God, was that a good thing.

When he was done, he waited for the polite applause to finish before taking a seat back next to Nikki. He looked at him for a second before forcing herself to listen to what Mr Shuester was telling them. She could have looked at him all day if she'd had the chance.

"So what did you think?" Puck asked Nikki as they walked out of glee rehearsal that afternoon.

"I think we're going to kick ass at sectionals." She replied simply, a small, wry smile on her cheeks.

"Nikki, are you kidding me?" he exclaimed "that's not what I meant!"

"Noah, chill out. I know what you meant; you're just really fun to pick on." Nikki answered, giggling.

"Just answer the question, smartass." He replied, teasingly as he pretended to still be mad.

"I thought it was amazing. You're a lot better than you think you are." Nikki told him honestly.

"I meant it, you know. The song."  
>" I know you did."<p>

"And I really don't give up easily." He assured her, trying to convince himself too.

"Well," she started, and Puck felt his heart drop a little. Here it comes... "It turns out; I don't actually need as much convincing as I thought."

Puck let the words sink in. What, exactly, did that mean?

"Hmm," he finally said "I didn't think it would be that easy."

"Neither did I," Nikki admitted jokingly "I'm kind of disappointed."

When he'd fully accepted what Nikki was telling him, Puck couldn't contain his happiness, and he grabbed Nikki, lifted up and spun her around. He giggled as he placed her back on the ground, taken by surprise by his sudden action. Then, with both of them clad in 1000 watt smiles, they walked out to Puck's car, hand in hand.


	12. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Hey! How's things?**_

_**First off, I know it's been waaaay too long since I updated. I just had sooo much to do during my easter holiday, and I really wanted to be able to spend more time writing than I did :( However, my exams are coming up, but they finish quite early :D After that, I'll have a few blissful weeks of writing! YAY. So until then...**_

_**Next, this chapter was initially intened to be part of a longer chapter, but a) I felt guilty for leaving it so long between updates and b) when I got writing today, I got to this point and it just felt like the right time to finish this chapter.**_

_**Right, I'm going to shut up now haha Enjoy!**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 11.<strong>_

Puck took a quick, deep breath before knocking on Nikki's front door. They had been dating for almost two weeks, but hadn't told anyone. They were discrete at school, but got together almost every afternoon since. Now, Puck was taking Nikki on their first 'official' date.  
>He wore dark jeans and a fresh white t-shirt with a leather jacket over the top- the closest to a suit he had ever worn except for one or two glee performances. Not wanting to turn up empty handed, he held a small bunch of orange carnations in his hand. He had thought about pink, but Nikki didn't strike him as someone who liked pink at all.<br>Puck didn't usually get nervous, especially not because of girls, but he could see his hand shaking slightly as he bought it up to the door. He took a second, and then rapped his knuckle sharply on the polished wood. He could hear movement behind it, and the door was pulled open by a tall, slim woman. Puck knew immediately that it was Nikki's mother- Nikki looked just like her. He had previously thought that Nikki resembled her father, but reconsidered it now. However, the woman in front of him had a very stern air about her, and he had never felt that from Nikki.  
>"You'll do." Mrs Winters announced, as if Puck was supposed to know what it meant, before moving out of the doorway for him to enter.<br>"Nikki, your friend's here." she hollered up the stairs on her way past, a strong southern twang resounded through the downstairs floor of the house. Puck could hear shuffling around upstairs, and then Nikki emerged.

When he saw her, he almost had to place a hand on the wall to keep himself standing. Hewas surprised by how different she looked. Her long dark hair had been set into curls and pinned back, a few strands escaping and cascading over her shoulders and collar bone. Thin straps held up the shimmering, ivory coloured dress, with the ruffled skirt, thick glittery ribbon around the waist and a straight bodice. Her knobbly knees were clad in nude coloured tights. Small opal gems dotted her ears and encircled her wrist, the magnitude of different colours in them sparkling, the blues emphasising the striking shade of her eyes. Her lashes were darkened with mascara, and her lips were slick with a soft pink gloss. Her feet were clad in thin black pumps that glittered as she made her way down the stairs towards him.

"Hey Mohawk." She greeted, a slight smile decorating her face.

"You look incredible." He breathed softly.

"You scrub up pretty well too," Nikki replied, grinning as she stepped down the last few steps. When she got to the bottom, she stood on the tips of her toes and planted a small kiss on his cheek. He stared intently into her eyes for what seemed like hours, but he managed to catch himself before he fell too far into his contentment.

"These are for you," he told her, his mouth feeling clumsy and numb, holding out the posies.

"Thank you," Nikki beamed. "I'll go a find a vase; I'll be right back."

He watched her as she almost floated down the hallway into the kitchen. He once again found himself alone, but he didn't mind, using the time to compose himself. However, he was glad when she emerged again quickly, beaming dazzling whites at him. She intertwined her fingers with his; her hands were soft and warm, feeling good in his.

"Ready?" he asked, turning towards the door. Nikki's mother had emerged from the kitchen, and he could feel her stern gaze burning into his skin.

Nikki nodded, but then quickly turned back to her mother with an afterthought. "Where's Tom?"

"He's running late," Mrs Winters replied "But he'll pick you in a few hours."

Nikki and Puck bade their goodbyes and after a short, chatter filled drive, they pulled out outside the restaurant. Nikki reached for the door handle, but Puck put his hand over hers to stop her.

"Wait here." He told her. Nikki's eyes knitted together slightly as a small, amused smile turned up the corners of her mouth, but she did as he asked. She watched curiously as Puck got out of the car, crossed around the front of the vehicle, and opened her door for her, offering his arm with a cheeky grin. Nikki laughed and accepted, stepping daintily onto the pavement. They walked through the doorway and were led to a small, candlelit table at the edge of the large room. The cream coloured tablecloth was frilly and delicate, and Nikki worried about setting her bag on top of it, not wanting to mark it in anyway. The first thing she did when they sat in their seats was lace her fingers with Noah's, feeling the warm, slightly rough skin of his fingers against hers. She smiled sheepishly at him, a little nervous now that she was here. She didn't know why; it wasn't like it was the first time she had been alone with Noah. It was more to do with the fact that she had never had a reason to wear a nice dress before, she had never had an opportunity to put on any shoes other than sneakers or her boots, the occasion to put on some make up had never arisen, and despite what she had thought beforehand. In short, she had never had a boyfriend before, and although she didn't understand what was really going on, she didn't feel uncomfortable about it.

Puck looked at her; _really _looked at her, for what felt like the first time. The soft candle light that flickered on her face, dancing in her intense blue eyes, she glowed. He wasn't sure when he had realised it, or even when it had started. He knew that he thought he'd had it with Zizes, and had been almost 100% certain with Quinn. With Shelby, he was sure it had only happened because of Beth; and Rachel and Mercedes didn't really count because he'd had ulterior motives with them both, but now he knew. Looking at Nikki, it was so plainly obvious; he couldn't understand how he hadn't seen it before. He almost felt dumb for not realising it earlier than he had.

Noah Puckerman was in love.

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><p><em><strong>AN 2: I know I've said this a lot before, but reviews really are appreciated and reviews= happy me and lots of smiles :D**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Howdy! How's things?**_

_**I know it's been a little while and I'm sorry. Things are so hectic at the moment, but by the end of the month, I'll have finished my exams and I have a beautifully long time to devotedly write then I promise :) Plus, stupid me over here has decided to start new ffs before finishing old one's so... (I've just started an Inkheart one, so if you're interested, check that one out :D)**_

_**Disclaimer: I love glee, but I don't own it, which is sad for me, but good for everyone else because I would have ruined it by now lol ;)**_

_**Please review! Reviews= Happy me! I love reading them, and I really think they have helped me develop as a writer, so yeah, please do it! Any suggestions/ideas/criticism/ song suggestions etc etc etc just let me know via review or PM :)**_

_**Thanks again!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p>"I'm really glad that you came tonight." Puck told Nikki sincerely as they continued to sit, completely content, simply looking at each other.<br>"Me too." Nikki agreed, wrinkling her nose as she grinned. Nikki's phone began to vibrate in her bag, and slipped it out, looked at the screen and returned it again.  
>"You aren't going to answer it?" Puck asked.<br>Nikki shook her head. "No. I'm here with you, and it won't be important."  
>The distraction forgotten, they fell into easy, relaxed conversation.<br>"Your mom." Puck started "She's, err...nice."  
>Nikki laughed at his choice of words. "Please don't take it to heart." she pleaded, seeming to know exactly what he was talking about. "She just worries that I don't understand what I'm getting into."<br>"Do you?" he replied, a totally serious look on his face.  
>"Do I what?" Nikki asked, not sure she was fully following the conversation.<br>"Know what you're getting into?"  
>"Yes." She answered simply.<br>They started talking about their experiences of growing up, and in the space of thirty minutes; Nikki's phone rang six times. Each time, she grew more and more irritated by it, jabbing the button to cut off the call with increasing amounts of force each time. He could see lines of frustration furrowing in Nikki's brow, deepening every time the phone jumped around inside her bag.  
>When five minutes finally passed with no interruptions, Puck saw Nikki physically relax, and so he did too. However, the tension did not stay diffused for long when a voice approached them.<br>"Ignoring me will get you nowhere Nik." it said, and when Puck turned his head to identify it, he saw a tall, blond haired teen, maybe a year or so older than Puck was himself.  
>Nikki groaned.<br>"What are you doing here?" she hissed irritably, throwing death glares in the other boy's direction.  
>"Mum told me to pick you up." he replied casually, shrugging his shoulders. Puck knew then who it must be, if the accent hadn't already told him. This was Nikki's older brother, Tom.<br>"Yes, in three hours!" Nikki told him, fists clenched and looking like she was ready to throw a few punches.  
>"Hey, I didn't know this was where you were." Tom lied, not bothering to hide his smirk.<br>"You're such an arse Tom." Nikki muttered, rolling her eyes. Puck wasn't exactly sure he knew what an 'arse' was, but it didn't sound particularly good. He could see Nikki throwing evil glances at her brother, and he was sure that if she could have shot tiny daggers from her pupils at that moment, she would have.

"I know." Tom shrugged dismissively. "Anyway, I'm going to leave you kids to yourselves and chill out over here."

They watched as Tom sauntered away and parked himself at a nearby table.

"I'm really sorry Noah." Nikki whispered uncomfortably, as she leant forward to block her brother's view of what she was saying. "Please, just ignore him."

"What's his deal anyway?" Puck asked, keeping tone equally as low.

"Up until a year ago, I didn't speak to him for two years." She explained in response "I guess he's just making sure I can't do that again."

"Why didn't you talk to him?" Puck questioned, wandering what Tom could have done to provoke that kind of response from his sister.  
>"I didn't like him."<p>

The simplicity of her answer would have made Puck laugh, had it not been for the totally serious expression on her face. He kind of wanted to ask about it, but he could tell that Nikki didn't want to talk about it, so he dropped the subject.

They carried on their evening as if nothing was out of the ordinary, except Puck's eyes kept flitting over to Tom. Nikki seemed perfectly content to pretend that her brother wasn't there, but then, Puck thought, if she didn't speak to him for two years, she was probably good at it. However, despite the fact that Puck made an attempt to keep his glances subtle, Tom Winters didn't make the same effort. He made it perfectly clear that he was watching.

However, after a while, Puck found Nikki too enticing to ignore. He soon found that he wasn't paying any attention to Tom because he couldn't keep his gaze from her face, which glowed radiantly in the flicker of the single candle between them. As they ate their meal they chatted easily, and when Nikki laughed, to Puck it was like a song that he would never get bored of, that he could hear over and over again. He loved spending time with her, and he would have given anything in that moment for time to stop and encapsulate them there forever. It was cheesy, and Puck knew that if he'd heard any other guy saying it, he would have laughed but it was true and he was tired of trying to hide it anymore.

"What would you say about not keeping us a secret anymore?" he said, faking casualness.

"You want to tell people about you?" Nikki asked, making sure that she was hearing what she thought she was.

"Well, we don't have to specifically _tell _people, we could just not make an effort to hide it anymore." He suggested. Nikki remained silent for a minute, and Puck didn't know what to say.

"We don't have to," he added. "You know, if you don't want to."

"No. No, I want to." Nikki answered quickly with a grin, worried that he would change his mind if she didn't tell him immediately.

When they were done and getting ready to leave, Nikki went off to use the bathroom. When he was sure that she couldn't see him, Puck wondered over to Tom's table. The older boy looked at him expectantly, but didn't say anything.

"I really like her you know." Puck told him seriously. Tom didn't look at Puck when he responded.

"I know you do." He said simply. "I don't like it, but I know you did."

Neither boy said anything else, and before Puck returned to his table, he slid out a twenty dollar bill and placed it on the table in front of Tom, silently offering to pay the bill for Tom's meal too. It wasn't that he thought he could buy his way in to Tom accepting him, but he wanted to show that he could be a nice guy. Yeah, he liked to shave his hair into a Mohawk and where leather jackets. And yes, he had been a real jerk to girls in the past, but Tom didn't know that, and it was different with Nikki. With other girls, he'd always found his attention wondering after a little while, but not with Nikki. She kept him on his toes, always asking what curveball she was going to toss him next, and he liked that.  
>"Do you want to go out somewhere tomorrow afternoon?" Nikki asked as they walked along. Nikki was determined to spend as much time with Puck as possible, and she certainly wasn't going to let her brother spoil her night, so instead of going straight home, they decided that they would go for a stroll. The evening air was warm and light and Nikki wrapped a hand around Puck's arm as they walked, comfortably in the close proximity.<br>"Whatever. It's up to you." he shrugged feigning indifference. It wasn't that he didn't care. He could feel his stomach doing a little dance at the thought of spending more time with Nikki, and he had never experienced that before. However, he could feel Tom's eyes on them, and Puck didn't want Nikki's older brother to think that he was too eager with his sister. Usually Puck wasn't fazed by older brothers. He was normally bigger and tougher, and even if he wasn't, he was good at faking it, and that was generally enough. But things were different now. There were no similarities between his feelings for Nikki and what he had done with other girls before. It mattered to him now what Tom thought, because it mattered to Nikki. He was prepared to do anything to keep her happy, and if that meant pretended to be intimidated by the fact that her older brother was only a few feet away, so be it.  
>At his answer and over exaggerated shrug, Nikki laughed; a cheerful, melodic sound.<br>"You know Noah, your disguise doesn't work as well as you think it does." she told him with a knowing, sideways grin. Usually he hated when people called him Noah. But it was different with her. She could call him anything she wanted with her arioso voice. He loved it. No, scratch that: he loved _her._  
>"What disguise?" he asked, wondering what she was talking about.<br>"The one where you pretend not to care. Like you couldn't care less what the rest of the world is doing."

Taking him by surprise, Nikki stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly. She threw a goodbye over her shoulder as she tottered over to her brother, leaving him, once again, completely astounded by everything about her.


	14. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Howdy!**_

_**Ok, I know it's been a while :( I hate not having the time to write, but I've only got just over a week until I've finished my exams (YAY!) so then I have a beautifully long amount of time to carry on with this, and give it the attention you lovely people deserve 3**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. End of story. But I wish I did lol**_

_**Please review! They make me happy, and I'd love to hear what you guys think!**_

_**lots of hugs**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p>Puck arrived at school early on Monday morning. He had been doing that a lot lately, because he knew that Nikki always arrived early, and he subconsciously made the decision to join her, just to spend more time with her. As he leaned against Nikki's locker, as he did each day, Puck thought about the date they had had the Saturday before. He still didn't know the real reason Tom had decided to join them, and his conversations with Nikki over the weekend hadn't done anything to clear it up. He had gotten the impression that Nikki knew more about her brother's presence than she was letting on, but when he heard Nikki's voice filtering in from just around the corner, he pushed the thought from his mind. He turned his head to look for her just as she came around the corner, and he almost had to physically hold his face to make sure his jaw didn't drop open.<p>

Nikki was wearing a flowing blue dress that came to just below her knees, with a lattice pattern and a slim white belt around the waist. The lines around the diamond shapes was a pale red, and it was similar to the colour that had been painted on her lips. The sleeves of her dress were three-quarters, and left slightly tanned, slender forearms exposed. Shimmering bangles encircled her wrists, dancing over her skin and colliding with each other melodically as she walked. Her feet were clad in sandals with thin white straps that wrapped daintily around her ankles, elongating already lengthy legs, lightly covered in nude tights. She walked with Quinn and Kurt at her sides, and she laughed at something that was said, her smile radiating from every pore and making her eyes sparkle happily. She wore her hair in a similar style to the one she had worn over the weekend, curly and flowing over pink shoulders.

Nikki looked around and spotted him, saying a quiet goodbye to Kurt and Quinn before wandering over to him.

"Good morning," she greeted with a soft smile. She watched, slightly amused, as Noah opened his mouth to speak several times, and no sound came out at all, while he looked up and down her body.

"Quinn and Kurt ambushed me at six o'clock this morning, forced me into the shower, and threw me in this dress." She explained sheepishly, rubbing her arms anxiously, a little uncomfortable in the outfit her friends had put her in. He still couldn't say anything, so he simply leaned across and planted a light kiss on her cheek. Nikki was a little surprised by the action; it was the first time he had displayed such a sign of affection in public. Then she remembered the decision they had made over the weekend, about not _not _telling anyone about their relationship, and she smiled. She hadn't minded not letting people know; she didn't see the need to share the information and Noah had asked her sincerely, but she liked the idea of being able to walk around with her boyfriend and not need to be so secretive. They stood talking for a little while, Puck waiting while Nikki piled books into her locker from the brown leather backpack she wore. By the time she was finished, the corridors were littered with people. As they began to walk away from the metal lockers, Noah reached down and laced his fingers with Nikki's, and she wrapped her other hand around Noah's elbow. They could both feel nosy eyes drilling into them, but they tried not to pay any notice. Although Nikki had gained some confidence since joining the glee club, she still felt nervous under such scrutiny, but Noah could tell and he gently squeezed her hand. When Nikki looked up him, she saw that he was holding his head high, not at all bothered by people's stares. She attempted to follow his example, but she felt her cheeks blush under the light covering of pale make up Quinn had brushed onto her face earlier that morning.

In a flash of confidence, Nikki stepped onto her tiptoes when the bell rang, signalling the start of class, pressing a small kiss on Noah's lips, which he happily reciprocated. Puck watched Nikki as she strode down the corridor, throwing a quick glance back at him as she entered her classroom. When Puck turned back again, ready to make his way to his first session of the day, he saw Quinn and Kurt, still looking at him with wide grins plastered to their faces.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing," They both chimed in response before walking away mischievously.


	15. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Howdy! How's everyone?**_

_**I know its been a really long time since I updated this story and I'm sorry! :( I've just been really busy with exams and stuff, but I've now finished college until september (YAY) so hopefully I should get chance to update this story a lot more often. I've tried to make it up to you all by making this chapter a little longer than some of the others.**_

_**I'm not sure there is anything else to say right now :/ **_

_**Please R+R! I'd love to hear any suggestions/ideas/criticisms etc etc etc so yeah, let me know what you think!**_

_**lots of love and virtual hugs!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p>The choir room was silent when Nikki arrived that afternoon. She was surprised, because Noah had text her to ask if she could meet him there early. The lights were still off, so the only light in the room came filtering in from the solitary window that still had the blind open, and the glow that escaped from the corridor. The sounds of chatter from outside the room sounded distant, as if it were far away and not a part of the same building at all.<p>

"Noah," Nikki hissed in a whisper. She was beginning to feel a little uneasy. She knew that most children feared the dark when they were young, but it was something she had never grown out of. Not even thinking to flick the switch on, scared of disturbing the eeriness of the room on her own, she turned to leave again.

Nikki let out a scream when she collided with something solid, and she flung her arms out to get away. However, she was greeted with an amused laughter, and when she looked up, she was greeted with Noah's cheeky, school-boy grin.

"Noah!" She exclaimed, pushing past the feeling of her heartbeat in her throat, reaching out to punch him in the arm. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I'm sorry," he replied, but the tone of his voice told Nikki that it wasn't very sincere. "It was just too easy."

"I'm glad you found it funny." She snapped, only half-joking. But all her anger suddenly dissipated when Noah lowered his head to press a kiss on her lips, and she could feel his warm hand on her cheek.

"I'm sorry," he repeated when they separated, sounding more genuine the second time around. Nikki begrudgingly accepted his apology. She gripped Noah's hand tightly to keep her own from trembling, because she wasn't going to admit to being scared of the dark, feeling childish for it.

However, apparently she wasn't as discreet as she had hoped, and Puck furrowed his brow when he looked at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his face full of concern.

"Nothing." Nikki shrugged. "You'll laugh."

"I won't laugh." Puck argued defensively "Please tell me?"  
>"I don't like the dark that's all." She admitted, waiting for him to burst out into hysterics. But he didn't. Instead, he rubbed her arm gently, and silently walked across the room to switch the light on. The bulbs buzzed on, and the room was bathed in an artificial yellow light that immediately made her feel better.<p>

"Why did you want to meet early anyway?" Nikki asked, hoping to divert the conversation.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew that if Kurt and Quinn know about us, then the whole glee club does by now. There'll be no secret any more." When Nikki looked at his face, the seriousness there, and the sincerity surprised her. They weren't things she often associated with her boyfriend, but she could see the loving concern in his eyes, and she could tell that he really did love her as much as she loved him.

"I think that kiss you planted on me this morning kind of gave us away Noah." She laughed to diffuse some of the sobriety.

"You kissed me thank you very much," Puck replied with a broad grin, and before Nikki could stop him, Noah slipped her glasses off her face and put them on his own.

"Come on Noah, I can't see without those." Nikki sighed, feigning annoyance, though when she reached out blindly to retrieve her glasses; it wasn't part of the act, because she really couldn't make him out from the rest of the blurs in the room.

"Jeez, these are so strong." Puck muttered, dodging Nikki's hands.

"If I could actually see you, I would tell you how ridiculous you look." Nikki told him jokingly. She had stopped trying to reach her glasses because Puck was too tall and he had the advantages. Instead, she looked mock-sternly in what she guessed was his general direction with her hands on her hips.

"How do you know?" Puck retorted "I might look damn hot for all you know."

Puck took advantage of the fact that Nikki couldn't see and snuck up behind her, scooping her up into his arms. He laughed as Nikki screamed slightly in surprise.

"I think you probably look better in them though." He told her quietly, and waited for her to take her glasses and slip them back onto her own face.

"Thank you."  
>"You're very welcome."<p>

Before Nikki could say anything in response, Puck crushed her lips with his own, and for a little while they were immersed in each other.

"I love you." Puck whispered softly when they finally emerged from each other, and even as the words escaped, they both realised that it was the first time Puck had said them aloud to her. He had thought it millions of times, but he had never actually _said _it, and he couldn't help but notice how amazing it felt. Nikki beamed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you too." She replied quietly. For a minute, they both felt like they were the only ones on the planet. Until, that was, Finn entered and shattered the little world they had started to create for themselves.

"Oh, err...Sorry." Finn mumbled awkwardly "I'll go."

"Finn," Nikki called as the other boy turned to leave again "It's ok, really." She assured him before turning to Puck "Put me down, please."

Noah begrudgingly placed her gently on the ground and Nikki set about adjusting the skirt of the dress she had been forced into that morning. Despite the fact that she wouldn't have chosen to wear it herself, Nikki liked the dress, and the stream of compliments she had received during the day had made her feel good. None of them, however, had made her feel as good as the look on Noah's face when he had first seen her in it. Nothing could top that.

"I'm going to use the bathroom before rehearsal." Nikki told the two boys to break up the slightly awkward atmosphere "I'll be right back."

The each watched Nikki leave, and for a few seconds, neither of them said anything.

"Look man, I'm sorry about walking in on you guys like that." Finn apologized, looking sheepishly at his feet.

"Don't worry about it," Puck grinned, still reeling from the proximity with Nikki in his arms.

"I guess it's true what Kurt told me this morning then, huh?"Finn laughed, moving further into the room and dumping his bag on the floor next to one of the chairs. "You guys are really dating now?"

"Yep."  
>"For how long?" Finn asked as they each took a seat, waiting for either Nikki to return, or the other glee club members to arrive.<p>

"A few weeks now," Puck admitted "We didn't want to tell anyone at first."

"You seemed different with Nikki than I've ever seen you with a girl before." Finn commented casually.

"I feel different man. Nikki's not like any other girl I've dated before. It just feels..._better._" Puck told his friend honestly, with a small, telling smile on his face.

"How did she take it when you told her about Beth?"  
>Puck felt like he'd ran into a brick wall. Beth. He had been so caught up in how loved up he felt about Nikki, he hadn't even thought to tell her about his daughter. Shelby and Beth had gone to visit Shelby's parents for a few weeks, so he hadn't been to see Beth at all in the time he had known Nikki, so the subject had never come up. He couldn't believe that his child had so easily slipped his mind with the feelings he had for Nikki. Puck was dragged back to earth with a bone-shattering jolt by the sound of Finn's voice again.<p>

"Dude, you have told her, right?"

Puck opened and closed his mouth several times in an attempt to answer him, but no sounds came out, and Finn took it as a 'no'

"Puck, you _have_ to tell her. This isn't something you can keep a secret from her. Not if you really are as serious as you say."

A hoard of the other glee club members entered at that moment, chatting happily, clearly oblivious to the stifling atmosphere in the choir room. Puck tried to push the thoughts from his head for a little while. He knew that Nikki could walk in at any moment, and she could read him like a book. He needed to tell her, but he needed it to be the right time and place. It wasn't just something he could drop into normal conversation.

"Hey pretty mama," Mercedes suddenly cooed, and when Puck looked up, Nikki was walking through the door, looking confused.

"Why did that guy out there just ask for a pair of my underwear?" She asked, taken aback.

"Afro, dorky glasses and squinty little eyes?" Santana asked, as everyone had a pretty clear idea about who went around asking girls for their underwear. Nikki nodded, though she didn't think that was the kindest description Santana could have given her.

"Jacob Ben Isreal." Most of the girls said together, and Nikki wasn't sure how to react at how little they all seemed to be bothered, as if it happened a lot. At seeing the other member's dismissal, Nikki shrugged it off and took a seat next to Puck. She smiled at him, but none of the good feelings Puck had had before remained. They were all tainted by his wondering how he was supposed to explain to his girlfriend that he had a daughter.


	16. Chapter 15

_**A/N: Hello there!**_

_**Ok, so this chapter is a little shorter than some of the others, but hopefully it will help everyone see a little bit of what's going on in Puck's head at the moment. I'm hoping to get the chance to rewatch season three soon so that I can add in some things that actually happen in the programme too. I've got some ideas, but it will mean that any attempt at keeping a realistic timeline is out of the window haha :)**_

_**Also, I've been rereading some of the earlier chapters, and I realised that from the way I've written it, it seems like Nikki and Puck do nothing but kiss. I promise there is a little bit more substance to their relationship haha. I'm going to try to put a little less kissing in, and a little bit more other relationship things, like actual conversation haha I'm going to put in some more friendships too, so hopefully that will add a little bit more to Nikki's character.**_

_**Anyway, enough of my rambling! I'll shut up and just let you read it lol.**_

_**Please R+R! I was totally overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I had when I woke up the morning after posting the last chapter (I did it just before going to bed lol) and it totally motivated me to write this chapter haha :)**_

_**Virtual cookies to all,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p>That night, Puck couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, and no matter what he did, he couldn't keep his eyes closed. He knew what he wanted, but at ten past one in the morning, he knew he couldn't have it. He couldn't escape from the fact that he couldn't avoid telling Nikki about Beth forever, and he ran through what seemed like hundreds of scenarios detailing how and when he should do. But none of them seemed right, and in his head, they all had the same ended.<p>

Nikki telling him she didn't love him anymore, and leaving.

Puck wasn't sure of much, but he was certain that he couldn't –_wouldn't-_ risk that happening. But he _had _to tell her. It wasn't like the past-girlfriends talk, and it wasn't even comparable to the 'first time' conversation. This was real; it mattered, it was important, and Puck had no idea what he was supposed to do about it.

As he struggled to think about how to say it, an idea occurred to him; he could _write _it. Happier with the prospect, Puck jumped from his bed and grabbed a scrap of paper. He would slip it into Nikki's locker in the morning and disappear for a few hours, so that by the time he saw her in the afternoon, Nikki would have had time to calm down and think about things, and hopefully they would be able to work everything out once the initial awkwardness was gone.

However, as the paper in the trashcan mounted up, and hours flew by like seconds, Puck realised that it wasn't as easy as it had first seemed. Before he realised, he no longer needed to use his lamp to illuminate his words, because the rising sun was bleeding through the gap in the curtains. He dragged tired eyes over to the clock on the wall. The hands were slowly edging towards five in the morning. He had been trying for the best part of four hours to find the best way to tell Nikki about Beth, the right words that would explain it better on paper than it could verbally, but in the end he had accomplished no more than he would have done in four minutes. He picked up a few of the crumpled balls, reading what he had felt was right at the time of writing them.

_Nikki,_

_There's something I need to tell you._

He'd scribbled that out almost as soon as the words had appeared on the paper.

_Nikki,_

_I think you should know that_

He'd known that these words made the whole thing seem too casual. It wasn't casual, it was important, and he needed to get the right message across straight away.

_Nikki, _

_You know I love you_

How cheesy is that? He thought when looking back over his own messy scrawl.

_Nikki,_

_I had sex with Quinn. We had a baby. Her name is Beth. Just thought you should know._

He'd gotten frustrated by the time he had written this, and had just written the first thing to come to his head. He knew what he needed to say, and he knew how he wanted to do it, but every time he thought the right words were in his grasp, they would slip away from him at the last second, and what he produced was nowhere near what he had imagined writing.

Puck rubbed a hand over his face. He was tired, but he knew that if he went to sleep now, he wouldn't get up in time for school. Any other time he would have just skipped his morning classes, but, although he didn't want to see Nikki for fear of him being too uncomfortable around her until he had things figured out, the thought of _not _seeing her almost made his head spin.

_Get a hold of yourself,_ he thought _She's just a girl. _

No, that wasn't true. To Puck, Nikki wasn't 'just a girl'. She was in a completely different league to 'just a girl'. With a deep sign, Puck slipped into sweatpants and decided to go for a run instead, to wake himself up.

The early morning air was cool and crisp. Puck felt his lungs fill up with icy breeze, and the fatigued fog clearing for his mind. For a while, he tried to push everything from his mind; Nikki, Beth, glee club, school. But no matter how hard he tried, they kept pooping back into his thoughts, so he eventually turned to return home, totally unprepared for the day ahead.


	17. Chapter 16

_**A/N: Howdy!**_

_**Well, first of all, I just want to let everyone know that I've finally got everything else that happens in this story figured out in my head! It's taken me long enough haha! So I thought I'd celebrate with a super long chapter update! (Well, longer than the rest lol) **_

_**Songs used so far:**_

_**Hanson-Georgia (Prologue)**_

_**Natasha Beddingfield- Unwritten (Chapter 3)**_

_**Vanessa Carlton- 1000 Miles (Chapter 9)**_

_**Edwin McCain- I'll be (Chapter 10)**_

_**Sara Bareilles- Fairytale (Chapter 16-This chapter)**_

_**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Glee, but I don't so blehhhh**_

_**If anyone has any song suggestions or anything, I'm more than open to them because a lot of the songs I had chosen have already been used! I planned to have Nikki sing Jason Mraz's 'I won't give up' to Puck, then I realised they did it on the graduation album, and I was going to have Nikki sing 'Hit me with your best shot' (I've forgotten who its by) as part of a storyline coming up pretty soonand then I remembered that they already did that during the dodgeball scene so...yeah, I'm a little stumped right now haha. **_

_**I'm already planning a second Glee story, though this one isn't about Nikki and Puck; it's going to be very Sam-centric. BUT! If anyone's got any ideas for a sequel to this story, let me know!**_

_**OH! Before I forget, I want to give Nikki and Puck a couples name! Like Finchel or Samcedes or whatever! I already have one suggestion 'Nick' but I would love some other suggestions too. I might have a little competition or something for the best one (Though I have no idea what to have as a prize :s) **_

_**Ok, I'm going to shut up now :D R+R! You know you want to hehe ;D**_

_**lots of love and virtual cookies,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

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><p>Puck arrived at school feeling sluggish and fog-brained. He dragged his feet as he made his way towards the building, and the clouds in his head meant that it took him a second to recognise that someone was calling his name.<p>

"Puck! Puck, wait up."

Puck turned to see Mr Shuester jogging towards him, so he stopped to let the teacher catch up.

"What's up Mr Shue?" Puck mumbled, trying, and failing, to seem more up-beat and energetic that he actually felt.

"I've been thinking" Will started "We both know that Nikki has a lot of talent, but I don't think that Nikki knows that, and because of that; neither does the rest of the glee club. They're taking advantage of the fact that she's there, staying in the background and helping the others look good. I think it's time to shake it up a bit." Will concluded, looking proud of the idea.

"What do you mean?" Puck asked, furrowing his brow slightly in curious confusion.

"We need to bring Nikki out of her comfort zone. She doesn't like to perform in front of people, so that's what we need to deal with first. And if I heard Kurt correctly, you know her better than anyone else, so how do you think we should do this?"

Puck thought carefully before the idea came popping into his head, obvious now that it was there.

"Surprise her."He answered simply "Don't give her a chance to think about it, because that's when she gets nervous."

"Great," Will replied "I plan to do it this afternoon, because otherwise, I'm not sure she'll be ready for competition."

"Cool," Puck said, rubbing his face again, hoping the action would wake him up more if he did it enough times.

"Are you alright buddy?" Will asked, his face tinged with concern "You seem kind of out of it."

"I'm fine," Puck shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "I'm just tired that's all."

"Just take it easy, ok. I'll see you at glee club."

The day passed painfully slowly, and by the time Puck arrived at the choir room in the afternoon, he could barely keep his eyes open. He arrived a little early for glee club, and he was vaguely aware of people following him in and taking seats around him, but it wasn't until Nikki walked in that he felt awake for the first time all day.

Her hair was in a long braid, lying on her shoulder with her thick fringe dancing over her eyes. She was clad in a dark red chequered shirt with a wide leather belt tied around the middle, and light blue skinny jeans that hugged her legs comfortably. Nikki's feet were heavy with the old, battered hiking boots she seemed to love so much, and her bag was slung casually over her shoulder as she sauntered in with a beaming smile on her face.

And Puck couldn't imagine her looking any more perfect.

The contrast between what she was wearing today and what she had worn the day before was striking, but Puck couldn't think of a time she had ever looked less than perfect in his eyes. She smiled and greeted everyone in the room, but when her eyes landed on him, there was a certain twinkling there that no one else could induce, and he was the only one who saw it.

"Hey handsome," She murmured when she sat next to him, turning away momentarily to put her bag on the ground at her feet.

Puck's mind went blank. He couldn't think of anything to say to her. Not even 'Hello' popped into his mind at that moment, but Nikki didn't seem to notice. The group had gone a little quiet, and she took the opportunity to bring up a conversation she had meant to have a while ago.

"I meant to ask," she started, a little loudly to get everyone's attention. "What is there to do around here that's fun?"

"Not a lot," Quinn answered good-heartedly "Why?"  
>"Because it's my birthday next week, and my parents have asked me if there's anything I wanted to do." Nikki explained, leaving Puck feeling even more dumb-founded than he already was. Great, he thought, now I have to think of something to get her for her birthday too.<p>

"Well, I hope we're invited." Kurt continued.

"No, Kurt, I was going to ask you guys what you think is fun to do and then do it on my own." Nikki answered sarcastically with a raised eyebrow and a smile at her friend. The room suddenly erupted with suggestions, and Nikki had trouble keeping up with them all. She joined in happily with snippets of conversations that were thrust at her with enthusiasm, with Rachel and Mercedes dragging her across the room to sit with them, and most of the girls making plans around her. In the chaos of excitement, no one really noticed when Finn placed himself in Nikki's seat next to Puck and leaned a little closer for as close to a private conversation as they were going to get.

"Have you told her yet?" Finn murmured, trying to look covert and casual about it.

"Dude, I don't know how." Puck replied in a low tone, almost desperately "I've been up since one this morning trying to figure out how to tell her, but nothing sounds right."

"Well, you're going to have to do it soon man," Finn told him "We don't know how long it's going to be until one of the others realises she doesn't know, and then you're screwed."

Puck knew that Finn was right, but it didn't make the daunting task any easier. However, he was saved from having to answer by Mr Shuester entering and starting the rehearsal, and everyone returned to their original seats.

"Ok guys," he called above the noise to quieten everyone down "I want to try something different today."

Ears perked and eyes darted to the front with the smell of a challenge in the air, because whenever Mr Shue tried 'something different' it usually meant another mash-off. However, they were all surprised when that wasn't what he had in mind.

"I think that we're focusing too much on finding some _incredible _songs to perform for competition that we're forgetting to appreciate the songs we listen to everyday." They all watched curiously as Mr Shue looked around, pretending that he was choosing randomly. "Nikki, what was the last thing you listened to on your iPod?"

Nikki was caught slightly by surprise by being called upon, and she had to take a second to think.

"Sara Bareilles." She finally answered "'Fairytale'."

"Great. Come on." Will told her, indicating for her to come to the front of the group. "Let's see it."

"W-what?" Nikki stammered, realising what the curly-haired teacher was suggesting. "I can't."

"Sure you can." Puck told her softly "You sing to me all the time."  
>"You're a little different to a whole room full of people." She hissed, aware now of everyone's expectant eyes on her. Puck could see the animalistic terror in her eyes, and he almost felt bad for being the one to suggest a sneak attack. But he knew she had to do it. At sectionals, at least, there would me so many more people there than there was in the choir room, and they all knew she had to get used to it. She looked at him with pleading eyes, and it made him glad then that Kurt must have been in on the plan, because he rolled his eyes dramatically, got up from his seat, and physically dragged Nikki from hers. He forced her to stand in front of everyone, cupped her face in his hand supportively for a short second, and returned to his seat.<p>

Nikki was about to protest, but the music started behind her, the reliable pianist already playing the opening notes of the song.

"I hope you're ready Nikki, because you're not allowed to start again." Will told her as her sat down with the group. Nikki realised that she was trapped. There was nothing she could do as seventeen pairs of eyes settled on her. As the right moment quickly arrived, Nikki did the only thing she could think of to protect herself from the humiliation she was sure was going to come. She clamped her eyes tightly shut and began to sing.

"_Cinderella's on her bedroom floor, she's got a crush on the guy at the liquor store..."_

Nikki was quiet at first, barely audible to those at the back, but nobody said anything about it, seeing how terribly uncomfortable she seemed. It didn't take much for the group to work out what was going on in front of them, so they all stayed silent.

Rachel listened carefully to the younger girl's voice. She hadn't imagined that Nikki was so good. They hadn't heard her sing on her own since her initial audition, and Rachel had thought that it wasn't talent that had made Nikki so determined to sound good then, it had been the challenge. No one had thought that she would have the guts to perform for them, so Nikki went ahead and proved them wrong. Usually, Rachel would have admired that, but she was painfully aware of the fact that if she could remove the shaky nervousness from Nikki's voice, the girl would be good. Very good. And Rachel hadn't counted on such a high level of competition.

Even as the cogs whirred and ticked in Rachel's mind, seeing Nikki with her eyes clamped shut and pulling at her clothes anxiously, she could hear her growing slightly louder with increasing comfort as she got into the chorus of the song.

"'_Cause I don't care, for your fairytales. You're so worried 'bout the maiden, though you know she's only waiting on the next best thing."_

No one's booing, Nikki thought suddenly. She had expected them to. She knew she wasn't as good as a lot of the others in the room. In a flash of unexpected bravery, Nikki slowly peeled open her eyes, with earned a cheer from her friends. Nikki gave a small smile when she noticed that Noah's voice was louder than the rest in encouraging her. When she realised that the world wasn't going to stop spinning because she was singing with people looking at her, Nikki actually found that she was beginning to enjoy the song, and as she moved onto the last real verse, and she even found herself drawing from a seemingly endless pool of fortitude when she belted out the last line.

When the song was finished, Nikki took a long, deep breath to calm herself as the room erupted with applause. She felt her face flush, and her hands were trembling slightly, but she felt almost like she was flying. She knew she was grinning stupidly, but she didn't care, and she when she returned to her seat, she felt Noah wrap a strong, warm, comforting arm around her and press a light kiss to her cheek.

"That was incredible," he told her softly "I'm proud of you babe."

Rachel clapped along with the others, genuinely happy that Nikki seemed to be finding her feet in the group, and just as impressed as everyone else was; but she made a mental note to keep a careful eye on the other girl.


	18. Chapter 17

_**A/N: Howdy folkes!  
>I promise I'm not going to babble on too much this time, mainly because it's ten past one in the morning right now and I'm super tired haha :D<strong>_

_**I've literally been working on this chapter all day, it's uber long...and it's probably a pile of crap.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own glee. Bleh.**_

_**Alrighty, please let me know what you think! Leave me a review or a PM if you'd rather. I really appreciate every single comment, follow, favourite and view. So thank you to everyone! I love you all!**_

_**Ok, I'm going to stop now haha.**_

_**Lots of love and virtual cookies...**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

><p>The night air was cool and crisp as Puck walked briskly down the street. He pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself, and shook his head slightly in disbelief of his own actions.<p>

What the hell am I doing? He thought, but he still didn't turn back. His feet knew where he was going, and they didn't need his head to take him there.

He had tried to sleep. He had really, _really _tried, but much like the night before, Puck had had no luck. He'd tossed and turned until he couldn't take it any longer. But unlike the night before, Puck got up, got dressed and snuck out the house.

As he approached his destination, Puck slipped out his cell phone and dialled a familiar number. He wasn't sure he'd get an answer; it was almost one in the morning. However, he was surprised when the dialling tone ended after only a few rings.

"Hello?" Nikki mumbled sleepily.

"Hey Nikki." Puck replied, a little sheepishly, embarrassed now.

"Noah, what's going on?" Nikki asked, her voice low as she stifled a yawn.

"I, err, I know it's a little late, but do you think I could come over. I can't sleep."

While Puck listened to silence on the other end of the line, waiting for Nikki to answer, he was close enough now to see the glow from Nikki's bedroom window. He guessed that she had put her bedside lamp on, and could remember putting it there himself that weekend they had all spent decorating her house to keep Nikki's mother from moving them all to Alabama. That day seemed like years ago, and Puck smiled when he thought about it. That was the first time he realised just what he felt for Nikki. It was the first time he'd really considered that he could feel more than an itch in his pants when he was near a pretty girl. Nikki was the first girl he had ever wanted to be friends with, it that was all she wanted and she was the first, and only, girl he had waited to have, just in-case she didn't feel the same way back. He'd bothered to spend time to get to know her, and it had paid off for him, because not only had Nikki felt the same way towards him, she had shown him a new world of emotions that he hadn't known was possible.

That was how Noah Puckerman had known that he was in love.

"Errm, yeah," Nikki finally answered in a whisper "Ok then. Text me when you get here."

"Actually," Puck replied "I'm already here."

Through the phone, Puck heard the slight squeak of mattress springs as Nikki got off her bed and crossed to the window. He curtains snapped back, and Puck saw her face peering out. He smiled when she spotted him, and Nikki used her free hand to open her window.

"There's a ladder at the side of the house." She told him quietly. Nikki's bedroom was above the garage, so Puck hung up his phone, retrieved the ladder and leant it against the wall. He clambered carefully up the steps and trod softly over to her bedroom window. He took Nikki's outstretched hand and let her help him in through the window.

"Hi pretty girl." Puck greeted when his feet were planted firmly on solid ground.

He could see her properly now. Her eyes were still a little puffy with sleep, and she was wearing a thin-strapped vest top and plain black shorts that exposed slender thighs, knobbly knees and toned calves. Her fingers were warm as she tangled them with his, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Why can't you sleep?" She whispered when she pulled away.

"I don't know." Puck lied. He knew exactly why he couldn't sleep. He felt guilty for keeping things from Nikki. Important things like the fact that he had an infant daughter.

"Well then, come and lie with me," Nikki said, plonking herself back onto the bed. "I'll change my alarm so that we wake up before my dad does."

While Nikki tampered with her clock, Puck slipped out of his jacket and shoes, though he left his t-shirt and jeans on. He didn't want Nikki to think he had any other ideas, because he knew she wasn't ready for _that._

Puck climbed into the bed next to Nikki. She wrapped his arm around her waist before pulling the cover over the two of them. Puck could smell the fruity scent of her shampoo and the feel of her almost bare shoulder blades against his chest as she nestled close to him.

Lulled by her proximity and naive sense of innocence about the way they found themselves, Puck quickly feel into a deep, comforting sleep.

"Noah!" Nikki hissed, shaking him awake. "Noah, wake up. My dad's going to be up soon."

Suddenly wide awake, Puck jumped nimbly from Nikki's bed and shoved his shoes back onto his feet. Nikki quickly neatened the sheets on her bed and grabbed clothes of her own while Puck threw his arms back into his jacket. Nikki crushed another kiss to his mouth as she all but pushed him back out the window, an excited grin on her face.

"I'll come back in a little while to drive you to school." He told her quietly when he stepped back on the garage roof. Nikki nodded enthusiastically as she watched Puck descended the ladder before she closed the window.

Puck almost ran home. He wasn't so bothered about hiding the fact that he had been out all night from his mother, but he needed time to shower and change before facing Nikki's father. He didn't want Mr Winters to suspect _anything_ at all.

It didn't take him long to get ready and drive back over to Nikki's. He walked up the long pathway and raised his fist to knock on the front door, but Nikki pulled it open before he had the chance.

"Good morning handsome." She greeted with a wry smile "I missed you."

"You missed me since an hour ago?" Puck whispered as he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Shhhhh." Nikki giggled; looking back over her shoulder to make sure her dad wasn't near them. "Come in, I just need to grab my things."

Nikki and Puck walked hand-in-hand into the kitchen, where Mr Winters was handing Kyle his breakfast.

"Oh look at that Kyle," the older man said to the small boy next to him "your sister's friend managed to find the front door again."

Nikki and Puck both froze. Then they looked at each other, wide eyed and terrified.

"Daddy I...We..." Nikki stammered, her face suddenly devoid of colour.

"Sit down," her father shrugged, a playful grin on his face. "Don't worry, you'd both be dead already if I thought you'd done anything other than sleep. And you might want to put the ladder back next time."

"Oh dear god." Nikki muttered as she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, clearly mortified.

"Nikki, I was wondering if you could walk your brother to school this morning. I have a crazy meeting in like...now, so please?" Nikki's dad asked, blustering around the room, gathering paper and keys, and a lot of other things he could grab.

"Actually Dad, Noah was going to drive me this morning." Nikki replied, looking a little guilty.

"Oh, it's ok." Puck quickly interjected, eager to make sure he was definitely still in Mr Winters' good books "We can take him in the car if you want."

"Cool." Kyle exclaimed, getting up and running off to get his shoes. "I call shot-gun."

"No you don't midget." Nikki called running after him, leaving Puck with Nikki's father and baby sister.

They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a minute until Nikki's father finally turned to Puck with a stern expression.

"It was nice of you to offer Noah, but you're going to have two of my babies in that car, so I hope I don't have to remind you to stop at red lights, don't drive too fast, don't ignore stop signs, all that stuff?"

"Don't worry Sir," Puck replied "I'll protect them with my life."

"Good." Mr Winters answered, though Puck could tell that the man wasn't finished. "I know I said that Nikki was my baby, but she _isn't _a baby. She's a young woman, and as much as I'd like to; I can't actually stop her from doing anything. But if I ever hear that you've tried to force her into anything she doesn't want to do, there_ will_ be trouble, and you _will_ answer to me. Do you understand?"

Nikki's father was looking directly into Puck's face, and when he answered, Puck made sure to hold the man's gaze to make sure he knew that he was serious.

"Sir, I would _never _try to make Nikki do anything she didn't want to do." He promised "I've been a jerk to a lot of girls, but I would never do that to any of them, and especially not Nikki. She's different to the other girls. I would do anything to make her happy, and I would never do anything to hurt her."

For a minute, Nikki's father didn't say anything, but then he gave a small nod.

"Alright." He said simply, holding out his hand, which Puck took gratefully. Before either of them had chance to say anything else, Nikki and Kyle had returned, and were ready to leave. They each bade their father goodbye, kissed their sister and walked happily to Puck's car. The journey to Kyle's school was short, and Puck made sure to take extra care with his driving, just as he had promised. When they arrived, Nikki walked Kyle up to the door, and when she got back in the car, she leaned over and kissed Puck gently on the cheek. They drove with casual chatter towards their own school, but Puck knew it was just the calm before the storm. He had to tell her soon. He couldn't keep his promises to her father without telling her, so he had to do, no matter the consequences to him.

The problem was that he still didn't know how he was going to tell his girlfriend, who he was completely crazy about, that he already had a daughter.

"Noah, would you tell me if something was bothering you?" Nikki asked as they walked down the corridor together shortly after they arrived at school that morning. The halls were still pretty empty. Not many people arrived as early as Nikki liked to, and Puck had quickly fallen into her routine.

"Of course I would babe." He lied, feeling guilty for it. He thought he'd been convincing, but Nikki stopped, sighed, and pushed him through the choir room door. She flicked the lights on and turned to him, her hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face that mirrored the one he had received from her father less than an hour before.

"Alright, spit it out." She demanded seriously.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about." He lied again, though he already knew that Nikki could see right through him.

"No, something is bothering you, and it has done for days, so come on, let me have it."

Puck gulped nervously. He was suddenly sweating in the otherwise chilly choir room. The time had finally come for Puck to come clean, and he had no clue what he was going to say.

It was now or never, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath.

"Nikki, I have to tell you something." He started anxiously.

"Ok..." She replied, waiting patiently for him to finish. Puck took a last, long look at her, because he was certain that she would never want to see him again after he told her.

"Nikki, I have a daughter."


	19. Chapter 18

_**A/N: Howdy people! How's things?  
>Sorry it's been a little while... again... for the past few weeks, pretty much all I've been doing is watching One Tree Hill dvds haha. I'm currently waiting for my season 8 dvd to arrive (very very impatiently lol)<strong>_

_**Aaaaanyway...**_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter. I wrote it really quickly, but this one came a lot easier than some of the others, so hopefully that doesn't mean it is worse than the rest :/**_

_**Please let me know what you think! Leave me a review or a PM if you'd prefer! I love receiving reviews, and I honestly believe that they help me write better! Now that I know exactly where I'm going with this story, I'm hoping to at least start another chapter tomorrow, so fingers crossed lol**_

_**lots of love,**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Nikki, I have a daughter."<em>

Puck braced himself for the screaming, the crying, the yelling and, knowing Nikki as well as he did, the punching. He knew that most of the time, Nikki was sweet and good-natured- two of the many things he loved about her- but tempted by the right conditions and situation, Puck knew that she could unleash an unrivalled feistiness that he was almost certain that his admission would evoke. He couldn't blame her. In fact, he admired her for it.

Though he knew it was strange, Puck loved to see that fiery passion in her eyes. It reminded him that there was still so much he didn't know about Nikki, much of which he might never know, and it only added to the unpredictability that constantly kept him on his toes and feeling challenged around the plucky Brit.

Had it been directed at any other person, he would have enjoyed it now.

But he didn't see it. Looking into Nikki's eyes, he didn't see anger; he didn't see tears, or pain, or hurt, disappointment, sadness or even confusion. What he saw, which confused him the most, was compassion, and understanding.

As Nikki took a small step towards him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, Puck stood rigidly, almost certain that his mind was playing tricks on him. Maybe Nikki's beaten me unconscious, Puck thought almost bitterly, and I'm just dreaming.

"Thank you Noah." Nikki finally whispered. In astonishment, Puck's eyebrows knitted together, and he pulled away from her, confusion and bewilderment plastered all over his worried features.

"Nikki, I..." He stammered "I don't understand."

Nikki laughed. A full blown, head-thrown-back, impish howl, but seemingly genuine all the same. If Puck hadn't been so completely disarranged by the whole situation, he might have been irritated or embarrassed, or quite possibly both.

"Noah, Quinn told me weeks ago," she explained benignantly "I've known for ages. I was just waiting for you to decide you trusted me enough to tell me yourself, and I guess you do now."

Puck didn't dare move, speak, or even breathe. He feared he might shatter the perfect alternate universe he found himself in if he did.

"Don't look so hurt." Nikki chuckled, taking Puck's face in her hands and running her thumbs over his cheeks.  
>"No, I, err..." he stumbled over his own words when he managed to recover his voice. "I just can't believe this. I can't believe <em>you.<em> You're so damn perfect, and I don't know how I managed to make you fall for an idiot like me. Any other girl would have run for the hills by now!"  
>"Well, I have to admit, I was a little surprised at first. I mean, it's not exactly something you expect. But she's a part of you Noah, and I fell for the whole of you, not just parts."<p>

Puck suddenly kissed her, immersing her completely in the depths of it. When they finally emerged from each other, Nikki was almost sure that she was still fluttering a little above the ground.

"You're incredible, you know that?" Puck whispered, relief washing over him like tidal waves.

"I know." Nikki shrugged playfully "Now come on, Quinn didn't have a picture, but she said you do. Let me see."

Puck quickly fished around in his pocket, fumbling over the things in there until he could finally grasp at his phone. He searched through the files until he located the one he wanted; the one of himself and Beth at the park. The little girl was perched on his lap, distracted by something in her hands, and Puck was looking down at her. He smiled and held the phone out to Nikki, and she took it gratefully, studying the picture in silence for a little while.

"What's her name?" Nikki asked, completely blowing Puck away with how calm and collected she seemed. Graceful.

"Beth." He replied, not yet sure if it was totally safe for him to be relieved.

"She's beautiful." Nikki told him with a hearty grin. "She looks just like you, but you can tell she's Quinn's too. And look at you! It's obvious that you adore this little girl. She's very lucky to have you."  
>"Ha." Puck scoffed "She deserves someone better than me."<p>

"Don't count yourself out yet Puckerman." Nikki told him "What's important is that little girl knows that you love her, and it's clear from miles away that you do."

"Honestly," Puck said, trying to change the subject a little away from himself "I'm kind of surprised that it wasn't Kurt, Rachel or Mercedes that told you."

"Me too," Nikki chuckled as she continued to study the picture intently. "But it wasn't their secret to tell, and I think even they understood that."

"God, I love you." Puck susarrated softly.

"I love you too." Nikki replied, matching his tone, and she stood on her tip-toes as he leaned down, meeting each other halfway, greeting each other with another kiss that lasted longer, was less desperate and searching, but reassuring and comforting.

"Well," Nikki said when they separated, slightly flustered "I don't know about you, but after all the excitement we've had this morning, I'm exhausted."

"Me too." Puck agreed, laughing.

"Walk me to class?" Nikki asked with a mischievous grin.

"Of course, pretty girl." Puck replied, slipping a soft peck onto Nikki's cheek as she laced her fingers around his.

Puck's good mood lasted all day, and his grin remained when he wandered into Glee rehearsal that afternoon. He plonked himself down into a chair next to Finn.

"You look cheerful." Finn observed simply with a wry smile of his own.

"I am." Puck replied "I have the best girlfriend in the world."

"You told her about Beth?" Finn exclaimed loudly, earning himself a sharp 'shhhhh' from his long-time best friend.

"I did, but keep your voice down." Puck hissed, keeping his voice low.

"How did she take it?"

"She already knew." Puck told Finn, making the other boy's eyebrows get lost in his dark hairline "Quinn told her weeks ago, and she didn't say anything."

Finn scoffed "You've got to be the luckiest asshole in the world, you know that right?"

"I know." Puck answered as Nikki scurried in, very closely followed by Mr Shuester who, as always was eager to start straight away.

"Ok guys, I have a little announcement." The teacher told the group, who immediately quietened down, intrigued by the idea.

"I'm thinking that we might organise a little show, to get us used to performing again, ready for competition."

The room suddenly erupted with chatter, but Rachel made sure that she was loud enough to be heard.

"Well Mr Shue," she started with a smug, self-confident grin. "I would be more than happy to prepare a number for the lead solo."  
>"Actually Rachel..." Mr Shue corrected her, making the smile slide from Rachel's face quickly "I was thinking of giving the lead solo to Nikki for this."<p>

"Me?" Nikki stammered, clearly shocked. She had sat with Quinn, Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine when she'd entered, seeing that Puck was talking with Finn, and she hadn't wanted to interrupt the friends. But now she could feel everyone's gaze on her, and Nikki wanted nothing but to bury her face in Puck's shoulder and hide.

"Yes." Mr Shue asserted firmly "You've got very strong vocals, and even though there are a few people in here who haven't had many chances at solos, you've never had one."  
>"There's a reason for that Mr Shue." She replied, her face visibly paler at the idea of performing alone in front of a crowd bigger than the one in the choir room.<p>

"I agree Mr Shue" Rachel interrupted, determine to regain control of the situation "If Nikki doesn't feel ready for the responsibility of the task, then we shouldn't waste valuable time on it. I on the other hand-"

"The lead solo is Nikki's, or it doesn't happen. End of story." Mr Shuester told Rachel, a determined expression on his face. Everyone but Rachel and Nikki could see what was happening; that Mr Shue was simply trying to find a way to help Nikki get over her stage fright enough to actually enjoy performing, like the rest of them did. They were all happy for her, and they all hoped that she would discover for herself just how good she was.

Enveloped in her nerves and anxiety, Nikki didn't even notice the angered, resentful, jealous glances she was receiving from Rachel.


End file.
